Ripple-SEC Lawsuit Settles, Accelerating Stablecoin Expansion [Doyeri's DeFi Radar]

The legal dispute between the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and Ripple Labs has finally come to an end after 5 years. With legal uncertainty resolved, Ripple is expected to accelerate its core business expansion, including stablecoin and payment infrastructure. Driven by expectations, XRP surged by over 12%.





According to major foreign media on the 8th, the U.S. Second Circuit Court of Appeals approved a joint agreement on the 7th (local time) to dismiss both the SEC's appeal and Ripple's cross-appeal. Both parties agreed to bear their own litigation costs and fees. Stuart Alderoty, Ripple's Chief Legal Officer, posted on X (formerly Twitter) that "After the committee vote, the SEC and Ripple officially submitted documents requesting the dismissal of the appeal" and added, "It's over, back to business."

With this news, XRP quickly rose. According to CoinMarketCap, a global cryptocurrency market tracking site, at 2:20 PM that day, XRP recorded $3.343, up 12.45% from the previous day.

In late 2020, the SEC filed a lawsuit against Ripple in federal court, claiming that XRP token sales constituted unregistered securities trading. This settlement finalizes the 2023 ruling by Judge Analisa Torres of the New York Federal Court. The judge determined that XRP sold on virtual asset exchanges does not constitute securities, but XRP sold to institutional investors does constitute unregistered securities sales. The SEC appealed this decision in October 2024, and Ripple responded with a cross-appeal.



With the 5-year legal dispute concluded, Ripple is expected to gain momentum in its business. Ripple announced that it has agreed to acquire the stablecoin-based platform Rail for $200 million (approximately 277.74 billion won).

Rail is an infrastructure company that processes fiat currency and stablecoin payments through a single application programming interface (API). It is equipped with virtual international bank account numbers (IBAN), account issuance, dollar payment network, and automated payment processing system. This allows fintech companies, neobanks, payment service providers, and large corporations to send and receive funds quickly and easily worldwide without building a new system from scratch.

Monica Long, Ripple's President, said, "Stablecoins are quickly becoming a core axis of modern finance" and "We will lead innovation and adoption in global payments with Rail." According to the cryptocurrency data provider DeFiLlama, the market capitalization of Ripple's stablecoin RLUSD is $620.74 million (approximately 862.58 billion won), ranking 15th. When the Rail acquisition is completed in the fourth quarter, the utility of RLUSD is likely to expand significantly.



Ripple is expanding its influence across traditional finance and DeFi. In July, it applied for a federal trust bank with the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) and is pursuing access to the Federal Reserve master account. In the same month, it also released an Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM)-compatible XRP Ledger sidechain with the Axelar Foundation and Peers, securing interoperability with the Ethereum ecosystem.

Ripple stated, "We have invested over $3 billion in acquisitions and strategic investments to date" and "We plan to actively expand our business through mergers and acquisitions (M&A)."

Reporter Do Ye-ri