Ripple and the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission have reached a settlement agreement that, if approved by the New York Court, will end their four-year legal saga. Meanwhile, SEC Commissioner Caroline Crenshaw criticized the agency’s settlement with Ripple, describing it as a blow to investor protections and the rule of law. Ripple, SEC Ink $50 Million Settlement Deal According to a joint settlement letter filed on Thursday, both parties are asking for the August 2024 injunction against Ripple to be dissolved, and the blockchain payments firm and two of its executives, CEO Brad Garlinghouse and Executive Chairman Chris Larsen, pay a $50 million penalty. The remaining $75 million of the $125 million in civil penalties held in escrow is to be returned to Ripple. District Court Judge Analisa Torres must approve the agreed-upon settlement. The SEC under previous Chair Gary Gensler, who went hard after prominent crypto companies during the Biden administration, had initially demanded that Ripple pay a massive $2 billion fine . But last year, Judge Torres ordered Ripple to pay a $125 million fine after finding that the company broke securities laws in selling its native XRP token to institutional customers, but did not break federal securities laws in putting XRP on digital asset exchanges for retail investors. Since President Donald Trump took office, the SEC, under its new leadership, has been walking back its hardline stance towards the crypto industry and has thrown out multiple enforcement actions and probes. President Trump has vowed to make the U.S. the “crypto capital of the world.” SEC Commissioner Blasts Ripple Deal SEC Commissioner Caroline Crenshaw has publicly criticized the agency’s pending deal with Ripple, warning in a May 8 statement that it ruins the regulator’s ability to keep crypto companies in line and undermines the court’s ruling. “This settlement, alongside the programmatic disassembly of the SEC’s crypto enforcement program, does a tremendous disservice to the investing public and undermines the court’s role in interpreting our securities laws,” she said. Crenshaw’s term as commissioner ended in 2024, but the SEC allows an extension of 18 months after the expiration of a term. Crenshaw also warned the move hurts the SEC’s credibility, claiming its lawyers “are being asked to take legal positions today contrary to the ones taken just months ago.” The commissioner further argued that if Judge Torres approves the settlement, it would erase “the investor protections we already won” and leave a “regulatory vacuum,” until the crypto task force formulates a clear regulatory framework. “The settlement is not in the best interests of the investors and markets that our agency is tasked with serving and protecting. It creates more questions than answers,” she posited.
