Ripple Labs and the U.S. SEC have filed a joint motion to pause their appeal and cross-appeal for 60 days. 

The parties jointly filed the motion yesterday, noting that they both reached an agreement-in-principle to resolve the multi-year lawsuit.

Agreement Terms

As previously reported, Ripple disclosed that the SEC agreed to drop its appeal unconditionally. In response, the crypto payments company announced the dismissal of its cross-appeal. 

According to Ripple, the SEC agreed to accept a reduced fine of $50 million instead of Judge Torres’s initial order of $125 million. Additionally, the SEC agreed to dismiss the permanent injunction the court imposed on Ripple’s future XRP sales. 

Before yesterday’s filing, the SEC had not issued a statement confirming whether the parties reached such an agreement. However, the commission has now filed a joint motion alongside Ripple to pause the appeal and cross-appeal for 60 days. 

Reason for the Stay

According to the parties, the SEC commissioners require sufficient time to consider whether to approve the agreement. If approved, Ripple and the SEC will seek an indicative ruling from New York District Judge Analisa Torres. 

In addition, they noted that pausing the appeals would save judicial and party resources. This eliminates unnecessary litigation while negotiations are ongoing behind the scenes. 

Further, the motion argued that the pause would not harm the appealing parties as they jointly agreed to the move. 

SEC to Issue Status Report Within 60 Days 

Notably, the SEC will issue a status report to the court within 60 days of the stay order. The report will provide an update on the SEC commissioners’ decision on the agreement. With the joint motion for a stay filed on April 10, the SEC must issue this report on or before June 9, 2025. 

For context, the SEC commissioners often deliberate on whether to settle with a party during its internal closed-door meetings. Since Ripple announced the dismissal of the appeal and cross-appeals, the SEC has had three closed-door meetings. 

Is SEC Waiting for Atkins’s Confirmation Before Settling with Ripple? 

Despite the three closed-door sessions, the commissioners have not approved the appeal dismissal decision. Some commentators have speculated that the SEC could be waiting for the Senate to confirm Paul Atkins as the commission’s permanent chair. 

Earlier this week, the Senate confirmed Atkins as the SEC permanent chair under Donald Trump’s administration. Consequently, the next step will involve the Senate sending Atkin’s confirmation to the White House. Afterward, the president will sign off on it before Atkins is officially sworn in as the permanent SEC chair. 

The timeline for these next steps remains uncertain. However, it remains to be seen whether the SEC commissioners will approve its agreement with Ripple to drop the appeal and cross-appeal without Atkins’ participation. 

Ripple Won’t File Brief on April 16 

Meanwhile, following the decision to pause the appeals, Ripple will no longer file its reply brief. The company was expected to file its reply brief on April 16 in response to the SEC opening appeal brief submitted in mid-January. 

With the parties negotiating a settlement and asking to pause the appeals, Ripple does not need to file this reply brief. Defense lawyer James Filan confirmed this in his remark on the new develement. 

#XRPCommunity #SECGov v. #Ripple #XRP The parties have filed a joint motion to hold the appeal in abeyance based on the parties’ agreement to settle. The settlement is awaiting Commission approval. No brief will be filed on April 16th. pic.twitter.com/OVKPCIh43H

— James K. Filan 🇺🇸🇮🇪 (@FilanLaw) April 10, 2025