$XRP ’s Wild Ride: The $1.3 Billion SEC Showdown That Shook Crypto—What’s Next?

Buckle up, Binance Square crew! Let’s rewind to December 2020, when $XRP —Ripple’s golden child—got slapped with a $1.3 billion bombshell.

In December 2020, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) sued Ripple Labs for allegedly selling unregistered securities in the form of its cryptocurrency, XRP.

The lawsuit, which had been closely followed by the cryptocurrency community, finally came to an end on Monday, March 16, 2025, when the SEC announced it would no longer appeal a July 2023 ruling by a federal judge that largely favored Ripple.

The SEC’s lawsuit, filed shortly after the agency began cracking down on cryptocurrency in 2020, had focused on three types of sales of XRP. The SEC argued that Ripple sold XRP to institutional investors through private placement offerings, which required registration with the SEC.

However, Judge Analisa Torres ruled that these sales of XRP were made in accordance with federal securities law and did not need to be registered.

The SEC also sued Ripple for selling XRP to the public through a “running cryptocurrency exchange.” Torres ruled that these sales of XRP, which began in 2013, were not registered with the SEC, and that these sales should have been registered.

However, Torres ruled that the statute of limitations had expired for the SEC to pursue claims related to these sales of XRP. The statute of limitations is a time limit for filing a lawsuit.

The SEC also claimed that Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse had made false or misleading statements about XRP to investors. However, Torres ruled in favor of Ripple on this claim as well.

In her ruling, Torres wrote that the SEC had failed to carry its burden of proof on this claim.

Following Monday’s announcement that the SEC would not appeal the ruling, shares of Coinbase (NASDAQ:) and other cryptocurrency-related stocks rose sharply.

After a federal judge largely ruled in favor of Ripple in July 2023, the SEC appealed part of the ruling to the Second U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in January 2024.

The agency had argued that the judge erred in her ruling that the statute of limitations had expired for the SEC to pursue claims related to sales of XRP to institutional investors.

However, in March 2025, the SEC announced that it would no longer appeal the ruling.

The SEC also said it was closing its investigation into Trump administration-era cybersecurity adviser Thomas Bossert over allegations he lied to reporters about Russian interference in the 2016 U.S. election.

The agency said it had reached the "logical conclusion" of its probe and would not pursue further action.

The agency’s decision comes after a judge ruled in November 2024 that the statute of limitations had expired for the SEC to file a lawsuit against Bossert.

The SEC had been investigating Bossert since 2017, after he gave an interview to The New York Times in which he appeared to contradict statements made by U.S. intelligence officials about Russian interference in the election.

The SEC alleged that Bossert knew the intelligence officials’ statements were true, but that he made false or misleading statements to reporters in an attempt to protect Trump.

However, the judge ruled that the SEC should have filed its lawsuit sooner.

"The SEC had ample opportunity to bring this case within the statute of limitations," the judge said in her ruling.

The SEC said in a statement on Monday that it would continue to focus on its core mission of protecting investors and the public interest.

"We are disappointed that the court ruled against us on the statute of limitations issue," the SEC said. "But we respect the court’s decision and we will move on."

The SEC’s lawsuit against Ripple was closely followed by members of the cryptocurrency community.

After the judge ruled in favor of Ripple on most of the claims in the lawsuit, several cryptocurrency traders said they planned to buy XRP.

The price of XRP rose sharply following the judge’s ruling, and several cryptocurrency exchanges began listing XRP again after delisting the cryptocurrency following the SEC’s lawsuit in 2020.

The cryptocurrency had been delisted by several exchanges after the SEC sued Ripple, with some exchanges also freezing the accounts of U.S. traders who held XRP.

Announced in December 2020, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's lawsuit against Ripple Labs over its cryptocurrency, XRP, sent shockwaves through the crypto sphere.

Claiming that XRP should have been registered as a security, the SEC sued Ripple for allegedly defrauding investors. The lawsuit, which also targeted CEO Brad Garlinghouse and former president Greg Kleege, spanned seven years of XRP sales from 2013 to 2020.

After a federal judge largely ruled in favor of Ripple in July 2023, the SEC appealed part of the ruling to the Second U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in January 2024. The agency argued that the judge erred in her ruling that