The US Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit issued a mandate on Aug. 22 approving the dismissal of the appeals in the case between Ripple and the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).
The court order, shared by lawyer James Filan on X, officially ends one of crypto’s most consequential legal battles.
Despite the news, XRP’s price increased less than 1% within one hour, trading at $3.0694 as of press time.
The dismissal follows a joint filing on Aug. 7, in which Ripple and the SEC agreed to end their appeals after a formal Commission vote.
The agreement marks the conclusion of a dispute that began in December 2020 when the SEC sued Ripple Labs, CEO Brad Garlinghouse, and co-founder Chris Larsen for allegedly conducting an unregistered securities offering through XRP sales.
Legal battle concludes, ETF odds remain high
Under the settlement terms, XRP will not be classified as a security, representing a major victory for Ripple. Each side will cover its own legal costs, according to the court filing.
Ripple’s Chief Legal Officer Stuart Alderoty previously described the agreement as closing a chapter that has overshadowed the crypto industry for nearly four years.
The outcome places Ripple alongside other crypto firms like Coinbase that have successfully resolved enforcement actions with the SEC. Further, it removes regulatory uncertainty around XRP’s status, keeping the odds of approval of XRP exchange-traded funds (ETFs) high.
In February, Bloomberg ETF analysts Eric Balchunas and James Seyffart predicted 65% odds of approval for spot XRP ETFs in the US.
Polymarket bettors placed their odds of such an approval happening this year at 98% in early June, followed by a 10% slide after the SEC delayed decisions on multiple filings the same month.
Despite the sliding odds on the crypto-based prediction market, Balchunas and Seyffart raised their odds to “90% or higher” on June 20.
Polymarket traders continued to oppose the analysts, taking the odds to 62% in early August after the news that Commissioner Caroline Crenshaw opposed the approval.
However, Balchunas reiterated the high odds of approval of XRP ETFs:
“Interesting, trades reporting how Polymarket odds of XRP ETF approval went down to 62% after the votes were disclosed showing Crenshaw voting no, but a) she’s gonna vote no on EVERYTHING and b) it’s meaningless, she’s outnumbered = we haven’t changed our odds, still at 95%.”
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