FILE PHOTO: The seal of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is seen at their headquarters in Washington, D.C., U.S., May 12, 2021. REUTERS/Andrew Kelly/File Photo
(Reuters) -Ripple Labs will withdraw its cross appeal against the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission in a prolonged legal battle tied to the sale of its XRP tokens, the crypto firm's CEO said on Friday.
"We're closing this chapter once and for all," Ripple Labs CEO Brad Garlinghouse said in a post on X, adding that the SEC was also expected to drop its appeal.
The move could bring the dispute closer to resolution after years of back-and-forth between the company and the regulator over the token's status as a security.
The SEC had sued Ripple for allegedly violating securities laws through the sale of its XRP tokens. In 2023, a judge ruled that XRP sales on public exchanges were legal, but the $728 million of sales to institutional investors broke the rules.
Both sides appealed, but later agreed to settle if the judge set aside her injunction and approved lowering the $125 million fine she had imposed on Ripple. However, the judge rejected their request on Thursday.
The SEC declined to comment.
(Reporting by Niket Nishant in Bengaluru; Editing by Alan Barona and Shinjini Ganguli)
