The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has officially filed the settlement agreement letter in its legal dispute with Ripple Labs, a major step toward closing the nearly five-year-old lawsuit.
The filing was submitted to Judge Analisa Torres of the Southern District of New York, requesting her indicative ruling on a jointly proposed settlement.
Under the proposed terms, Ripple will pay $50 million to the SEC from the originally imposed $125 million fine. The remaining $75 million, held in escrow, will be returned to Ripple once the court approves the dissolution of the previous injunction. Both parties have also agreed to withdraw their ongoing appeal and cross-appeal.
Court Process Still Underway
Legal expert James K. Filan outlined the multi-step process still ahead. First, Judge Torres must indicate whether she agrees to dissolve the injunction and release the escrow. If she does, the case will be sent back to her court from the Second Circuit Court of Appeals for a limited remand. Upon return, Ripple and the SEC will jointly file a motion to formalize the dissolution of the injunction and redistribution of the funds. After that, both appeals will be dismissed, fully ending the case.
This legal process, though mostly administrative at this stage, will formally bring closure to a case that began in December 2020. The SEC initially sued Ripple for allegedly conducting unregistered securities sales through its XRP token.
After Donald Trump came to power in late 2024, the SEC started easing back on aggressive enforcement actions against crypto companies. Now, the SEC has dropped or settled many of the high-profile lawsuits from the Gensler era, including this one. The settlement has also boosted optimism for an XRP exchange-traded fund (ETF). Bloomberg analysts now estimate an 85% approval probability for spot XRP ETFs following the case’s resolution. Firms like Grayscale, WisdomTree, Bitwise, 21Shares, and Franklin Templeton are reportedly among the applicants.
Ripple has also played an increasingly active role in political lobbying. The company donated $45 million to the Fairshake PAC, which supports pro-crypto candidates, and pledged $5 million in XRP to President Trump’s inauguration fund. While the timing of the settlement has raised speculation, Ripple’s legal team has insisted the resolution is independent of political donations.
XRP Price Surges Past $2.3 Following Settlement Filing
XRP’s price has seen a sharp move upward following the SEC’s filing of the settlement agreement with Ripple. On May 9, 2025, XRP traded around $2.34, reflecting a 2.38% intraday gain. The chart shows a clear breakout after a long period of sideways trading. For weeks, XRP had been stuck in a range, moving between $2.00 and $2.20, with no strong direction. But after the case settlement letter, the price pushed through this range.
The price has broken above key exponential moving averages (EMAs). This includes the 20-day ($2.21), 50-day ($2.19), 100-day ($2.18), and 200-day ($2.17) EMAs. This confirms a bullish crossover, signaling upward momentum.
The Relative Strength Index (RSI) currently reads 72.40, indicating overbought territory. This suggests strong buying pressure but also a potential for short-term consolidation or minor correction before further gains.
