Ripple and the SEC File a Joint Motion to Settle the $125M Lawsuit

One of the longest-running lawsuits in the crypto landscape could potentially come to a close as both parties seek to settle their disputes. Ripple and the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) have jointly proposed to settle their $125 million civil penalty.

According to the court filings shared by Fox Business journalist Elanor Terett on 12 June 2025, both parties have sought to settle Judge Analisa Torres’s final judgment before the 16 June deadline.

The court filings suggest that both parties have asked a Manhattan court to release the $125 million held in escrow and to also dissolve the previously issued injunction. As per the proposal, the SEC would be paid $50 million while the rest ($75 million) would be returned to Ripple.

This is the second settlement attempt by the parties after Judge Analisa Torres rejected their first motion to settle on 15 May. During the hearing, she stated, “If jurisdiction was restored to this Court, the Court would deny the parties’ motion as procedurally improper.”

Bill Morgan, a pro-crypto lawyer shared his thoughts on X regarding the difference between the first settlement motion vis-à-vis the recent one stating, “In the joint motion filed today by the SEC and Ripple to show exceptional circumstances, the parties rely on authorities that have held that exceptional circumstances exist where modification of a judgment is necessary to facilitate a settlement that would obviate pending appeals and where relief from the judgment is a ‘necessary condition of settlement.”

He further wrote that unless both parties achieve a settlement, the SEC and Ripple will go ahead with their respective appeals and cross appeals.

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Ripple-SEC History of Appeals and Counter Appeals

These recent developments stem from a long and complicated legal history between the two parties, as the SEC sued Ripple in 2020 for offering unregistered securities to investors through the institutional sales of XRP.

Ripple in their counter-appeal denied any wrongdoing on their part and managed to secure a partial legal victory when Judge Torres ruled that the programmatic sales of XRP to retail buyers on public exchanges did not qualify as securities offerings. The court, however, did highlight that Ripple’s institutional sales had violated regulations.

Following the court’s decision, the SEC initially sought a $2 billion penalty, which it later reduced to $125 million.

The court’s denial of Ripple and the SEC’s initial motion to settle saw the XRP suffer a massive setback, crashing to $2.3551. However, analysts expect its value to increase if the settlement motion goes through this time around.

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Regulatory Changes on the Horizon?

Although this motion has not yet received approval from the court, the fact that the SEC and Ripple made the motion in conjunction is an indication of growing cooperation between the two entities. If approved, could it set an example for other businesses to navigate any future regulatory challenges?

Terrett, in her later X posts, further surmised that settlements, the changed SEC policies under the Trump administration and unwillingness to undergo protracted legal processes, could this time lead to an alternate decision by Judge Torres.

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