A New York court has ordered Ripple to pay a USD 125 million fine in its ongoing legal dispute with the Securities and Exchange Commission ( SEC ). The fine is considerably lower than the USD 2 billion initially sought by the SEC.

The ruling determined that 1,278 transactions conducted by Ripple violated securities laws, as stated in court documents. Ripple, known for its association with the cryptocurrency XRP, has been involved in a legal conflict with the SEC for several years. In a prior ruling, the court found that while Ripple's programmatic sales of XRP to retail investors did not qualify as securities, USD 728 million in institutional sales contracts were deemed unregistered securities.

The ruling has drawn attention within the digital asset industry, which has criticized the SEC's regulatory actions. Some industry observers and investors view the outcome as a positive development for the cryptocurrency sector, given the reduced penalty compared to the SEC's original demands. XRP bump Following the announcement, XRP experienced a significant price increase of over 18%, reaching USD 0.60, making it the only major cryptocurrency to see such gains on that day.

The judge noted that while the violation of SEC regulations was a serious matter, the case did not involve allegations of fraud, misappropriation, or other more severe conduct. She also mentioned that the SEC had not demonstrated that Ripple's failure to register the institutional sales led to substantial losses for investors. Ripple CEO commented on social media, characterizing the outcome as favourable for Ripple, the industry, and the legal framework governing such matters.

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