In a surprising development, the SEC has apparently dropped its lawsuit against Ripple without announcement. The Commission removed references to the case from its website, but other crypto lawsuits are still visible.
At least one attorney claimed that the suit is still listed on more restricted/official channels, but this may or may not change.
Is Ripple Vs SEC Finally Over?
The Ripple vs SEC case has been one of the biggest talking points in crypto since it was first filed four years ago. For instance, rumors of a settlement between these two parties have fueled major price bumps in Ripple’s XRP token.
Since President Trump’s election win in November, XRP surged by over 400%, anticipating that the lawsuit would be dropped under the new administration. Yet, the SEC recently appealed against Ripple, which reflected that the case might run longer.
Today, however, social media users are noticing that the SEC’s website removed all references to this suit.
“Is Ripple Free from the SEC? Searched for “Ripple” in the SEC’s litigation section and… No results! Did the legal battle just end? Is this the final chapter of XRP vs SEC? If true, this could be a historic moment for XRP,” influencer John Squire claimed on X (formerly Twitter).
If true, this would be a major milestone for the crypto industry. First and foremost, it’s a real demonstration of the pro-industry shift in federal regulators since Trump took office.
Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse recently mocked former SEC Chair Gary Gensler for dragging this case out. Maybe this view was vindicated since the new SEC dropped it.
SEC Delists Ripple Lawsuit. Source: SEC
Commentators have also noted that other suits, such as the one against Kraken and Coinbase, are still on the website. However, the developers are still not clear.
For example, one attorney used his own behind-the-scenes access to dispute the listing’s significance:
“The SEC website does not matter. The appeal is still open in the Court’s nationwide PACER system. I just logged in. The last entry is Ripple’s request for a time extension to file its Brief. The case status is still shown as active,” he claimed.
Nonetheless, he did acknowledge that this state of affairs may change soon. This SEC rumor is extremely recent, so it hasn’t noticeably impacted the price of Ripple’s XRP token.
Overall, most industry experts believe it’s only a matter of time before this lawsuit is officially null and void. With this shift in financial regulators, the SEC and other US regulators are expected to tone down on anti-crypto enforcement efforts.
