XRP Pumps As Ripple Trial Ends with $125M Fine

Yesterday, a federal judge fined Ripple $125M for violating federal securities laws in its institutional sales of XRP.

What's the scoop?

• Retail Sales Cleared: Ripple's programmatic sales of XRP to retail through exchanges were not found to violate federal securities laws.
• Reduced Fine: The $125M fine is significantly less than the $1B in disgorgement and $900M in civil penalties sought by the SEC.
• Future Compliance: Ripple is "banned" from future securities law violations and must file a registration statement if it intends to sell any securities.
• Potential Appeal: Now that the judge has imposed a sentence, the SEC is likely to appeal the July 2023 ruling.
• Market Reaction: XRP's price shot up 25% following the ruling.

Bankless Take: 

This marks a new era for Ripple, as they move forward now, “unburdened by what has been.” In all seriousness, though, the resolution of the Ripple case marks a significant milestone in resolving outstanding issues from the ICO era, while further cementing that this type of token launch does not violate securities laws. Given the disillusionment with high FDV, low-float token launches this cycle, we can expect more experimentation with token launches going forward, potentially aided by this recent resolution.