By this point, we all know that Ripple is a big company that created the famous XRP digital currency, right? And yes, it is more like a cryptocurrency, just like Bitcoin and Ethereum, but unlike the use of those cryptos, Ripple mainly uses it to help banks send money across borders. Why? Well, as per them, it is much faster and much cheaper too. So? Like what’s the problem then?
Oh, you see, back in the year 2020, the US. Securities and Exchange Commission or SEC for short, then decided to sue Ripple over this. But why, like what’s the problem the thing here is? Well, they went on to say that Ripple was using this XRP thing more like a stock or bond, but that’s something you can’t do without registering it properly. Of course, Ripple disagreed with all this, but still, SEC went on to sue them and that’s why we saw this lawsuit, but today, we’re here to see the Ripple Sec Lawsuit Resolution Timeline. So, here we go then.
Just So You know, This Has Been Going On For 4 Years Now
Well, the thing is, this isn’t a new case at all, it has been going on for 4 years now, which is just insane if you think about it for a sec. Like throughout all these 4 years, we saw how this case got dragged, all those appeals, those back-and-forth arguments, and things like that. And if we believe in the claims of Ripple company, well, they say that they have spent a ton of money on this case, something like $150 million in just legal fees.
At the very beginning of this case, Ripple just wanted to prove that they weren’t the ones breaking the law here. But still, the SEC went after them and they wanted Ripple to pay over $2 billion in penalties. $2 billion? Oh yes, and that’s the reason why this case got dragged on for more than 4 years.
It was the first time in 2023 when we saw that a Judge named Analisa Torres ruled kinda in favor of Ripple by saying that they were partially right. Like, as per that ruling, XRP is not a security when regular people buy it on exchanges like Coinbase or Binance. But once again, the SEC appealed, and this case dragged on even longer.
Things Got Even Spicier in 2024 and 2025
The same went on in 2024 as well, like the SEC started missing filing deadlines, which wasn’t too professional of them considering how big of a case this was. Though, this year, then in early 2025, everything changed.
What? Oh, well just this month, on 19th March 2025, Ripple’s CEO Brad Garlinghouse made a big announcement. He said that this case is now “over” because the SEC was dropping the case. And sure enough, right after this news, the XRP price once again jumped from $2.29 to $2.51 in just one day.
In the end, it was all just for nothing, and the SEC had to back down from this case because they couldn’t prove what they were alleging against Ripple.