Ripple Withdraws Counter Appeal and Will Receive $75 Million Compensation from SEC

Ripple general counsel Stuart Alderoty said the company has agreed to withdraw its cross-appeal in a case against the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and will be refunded about $75 million of the amount set by a court order in August 2024.

A court standoff between blockchain company Ripple Labs and the SEC that has lasted more than four years may finally be coming to an end - subject to court approval.

Stuart Alderoti wrote that the company will withdraw its cross-appeal against the SEC from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit.

The US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) will refund most of the $125 million fine paid by Ripple Labs in a lawsuit from the regulator. This was announced by CLO of the latter Stuart Alderoti.

As a reminder, on March 19, 2025, Ripple Labs CEO Brad Garlinghouse announced that the case was closed. The SEC agreed to withdraw an appeal that filed after the court significantly reduced the fine amount. 

According to Alderoti, the case is now at an end. Ripple Labs has withdrawn its cross-appeal. The company's CLO also noted that the SEC will refund $75 million of the $125 million fine the firm sent to an escrow account as ordered by the court. 

The Commission will also ask the court to lift an earlier injunction imposed on Ripple Labs, which effectively limited the possibility of further promotion of XRP, Alderoti added;

The asset reacted to the news with a slight increase, approaching the $2.5 mark, after which it fell again. It should be noted that against the background of Garlinghouse's statement, the reaction was more violent:

The community speculated that only an official statement from the SEC on the matter could move the market. Neither the company nor the Commission filed new papers with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, which is the reason for the community's restrained reaction.

New SEC head invests $6 million in crypto sector

Paul Atkins, nominated by US President Donald Trump to be the new head of the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), has invested $6 million in the crypto sector, Fortune reported, citing documentation from the Office of Government Ethics. 

Atkins served on the board of Securitize, a company in the real-world asset tokenization (RWA) sector, until February 2025, according to the publication's materials. His portfolio includes $250,000 to $500,000 in call options on the firm's stock. 

It also holds securities of cryptocurrency custodian Anchorage Digital. They are also valued at $250,000-$500,000. 

Another $1 million to $5 million is accounted for by a stake in the investment company Off the Chain Capital, where the future head of the SEC is a limited partner. 

Note that the said $6 million is only a small fraction of the total fortune of Atkins and his wife Sarah Humphries of $327 million, according to Bloomberg.

The publication noted that this makes him the richest SEC chairman in the past 10 years. By comparison, Gary Gensler, Atkins' predecessor, had $119 million in assets when he took office. 

Some of the pair's biggest assets are stakes in Patomak Global Partners, a consulting firm founded by Atkins, and in roofing firm Tamko Holdings Inc. The latter was founded by Humphries' grandfather. She and her family own a 75% stake in the holding.

The new head of the SEC himself announced his intention to reduce some of the assets in case of his appointment. In particular, in December 2024, he resigned as co-chairman of Token Alliance, an organization associated with the Digital Chamber. Atkins has also committed to stepping down as CEO of Patomak Global Partners, resigning from Securitize and exercising stock options in that company. 

A hearing on his nomination to be the new SEC chairman will be held in the Senate on March 27, 2025. For the time being, Mark Ueda is acting as the head of the Commission.

SEC to hold four meetings on regulation of cryptocurrencies

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's (SEC) Crypto Task Force will hold four more roundtables as part of a series of discussions on the regulation of cryptocurrency assets.

On April 11, 2025 will meet on adapting regulation for crypto trading. On April 25, the SEC will address key aspects of cryptocurrencies, and on May 12, the focus of the roundtable will be on asset tokenization. On June 6, the Crypto Task Force will discuss the future of decentralized finance.

It is known that each meeting will be open to the public at the SEC's headquarters and will be streamed live on the regulator's website.

SEC cryptocurrency working group chair Hester Pierce said:

”Crypto Task Force roundtables are an opportunity for us to hear a lively discussion among experts about regulatory issues and what the Commission can do to address them.”.