Court approves 60-day delay in SEC versus Ripple appeal case.

An appellate court has granted a joint request from Ripple Labs and the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to pause an appeal in a 2020 SEC case against Ripple amid settlement negotiations. In an April 16 filing in the US Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, the court approved a joint SEC-Ripple motion to hold the appeal in abeyance — temporarily pausing the case — for 60 days. As part of the order, the SEC is expected to file a status report by June 15.

April 16 order approving a motion to hold an appeal in abeyance. Source: PACER The SEC’s case against Ripple and its executives, filed in December 2020, was expected to begin winding down after Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse announced on March 19 that the commission would be dropping its appeal against the blockchain firm. A federal court found Ripple liable for $125 million in an August ruling, leading both the SEC and the blockchain firm to file an appeal and cross-appeal, respectively.

However, once US President Donald Trump took office and leadership of the SEC transitioned from former chair Gary Gensler to acting chair Mark Uyeda, the commission began dropping multiple enforcement cases against crypto firms, indicating a political shift. Ripple pledged $5 million in XRP to Trump’s inauguration fund, and Garlinghouse and chief legal officer Stuart Alderoty attended events supporting the US president.

Related: SEC dropping Ripple case is ‘final exclamation mark’ that XRP is not a security — John Deaton Although there is support for concluding the case from both Ripple and the SEC, the August 2024 judgment and appellate cases leave some legal complexities. Alderoty mentioned in March that Ripple would withdraw its cross-appeal with the SEC and receive a refund of approximately $75 million from the lower court’s decision. The outcomes of ongoing negotiations in appellate court remain uncertain.

New leadership at SEC incoming Acting chair Uyeda is expected to step down following the US Senate’s confirmation of Paul Atkins as SEC chair on April 9. During his confirmation hearings, lawmakers raised concerns with Atkins about his connections to crypto, which could lead to conflicts of interest in his regulatory role. In financial disclosures, Atkins indicated he has millions of dollars in assets linked to crypto firms, including Securitize, Pontoro, and Patomak.