XRP Lawsuit Sees New Twist As Ripple And SEC Request Court To Freeze Appeal Proceedings

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and Ripple are seeking more time to finalize a settlement and have requested the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit to keep their ongoing appeals in abeyance, according to a new status report filed by the agency.

#XRPCommunity #SECGov v. #Ripple #XRP In light of the pending motion for an indicative ruling, the parties have requested that the Second Circuit continue to hold the appeals in abeyance, with the @SECGov to file a status report by August 15, 2025.https://t.co/7oQvL5Rx7U

— James K. Filan (@FilanLaw) June 17, 2025

The request comes after the two parties submitted a renewed joint motion on June 12 to the US District Court for the Southern District of New York. As ZyCrypto reported, lawyers for Ripple and the SEC asked the court to grant their joint motion to lift the injunction against Ripple and allow for $50 million worth of fines held in escrow to go to the SEC, with the rest being returned to the blockchain payments firm.

The renewed filing follows the court’s rejection of their initial joint motion for an indicative ruling in May. Judge Analisa Torres denied that request, emphasizing that it failed to show the “exceptional circumstances” required to amend a final ruling.

Unfazed, the SEC and Ripple refiled their motion for an indicative ruling last week, highlighting those required exceptional circumstances that warrant amendment of the final ruling. Specifically, they argue that the proposed settlement would efficiently resolve the case without further litigation and would be consistent with the SEC’s approach in other crypto enforcement actions.

Yesterday’s filing seeks to pause further appellate proceedings while settlement terms are finalized. The SEC intends to submit a status report by August 15, 2025.

SEC And Ripple Wind Down Long-Standing Case

In July 2023, Judge Torres found that secondary sales of the XRP cryptocurrency did not qualify as securities, granting Ripple and the broader crypto industry a major win.

However, the Judge also declared that Ripple’s sale of XRP to institutional investors did violate securities laws. As such, Ripple was ordered to pay a $125 million penalty to the SEC as per a subsequent judgment from the Judge in August 2024.

Unsatisfied with the outcome of the case, the SEC lodged an appeal in October 2024 — approximately a month before President Donald Trump won the presidential election against Democrat Kamala Harris.

Suffice it to say that SEC vs Ripple is a landmark lawsuit for crypto regulations in the US, and formally ending the litigation will be a symbolic victory for an industry that has already largely won its battle for legal legitimacy in the world’s largest economy.