The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and Ripple Labs have jointly requested a continued pause in their appeal proceedings to negotiate a settlement that could resolve their long-standing legal dispute. Both parties aim to allow the district court to evaluate settlement terms that may dissolve the court-imposed injunction against Ripple and restructure the $125 million penalty.
Central to the proposed agreement is a redistribution of the monetary penalty, with $50 million allocated to the SEC and the remaining $75 million to be returned to Ripple. This potential resolution follows a landmark 2023 court ruling that partially favored Ripple by determining that programmatic XRP sales did not violate securities laws, though institutional sales were deemed unregistered securities offerings.
The outcome is poised to influence broader cryptocurrency regulatory approaches and impact the approval trajectory for XRP-related financial instruments, including exchange-traded funds. The SEC is expected to submit a status report detailing settlement progress by mid-August.