By George Glover

XRP was soaring Wednesday after the CEO of Ripple Labs said that the Securities and Exchange Commission had dropped its long-running case against his company.

The token, which is used to facilitate and settle transactions on Ripple's digital-payments platform, surged 13% to just under $2.56, according to data from the crypto exchange Kraken.

XRP was racking up gains after Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse said in a video clip posted on X that the SEC had dropped its case against Ripple, bringing an end to a legal battle that dragged on for more than four years.

"Ripple is the first company with the resources, determination, and grit to fight back against the agency's overreach," Garlinghouse said. "Today this journey finally concludes. Today is a victory and a long-overdue surrender by the SEC."

The SEC didn't immediately respond to a request for comment from Barron's.

In 2020, the agency charged Ripple with selling an unregistered security. In August, a federal judge ordered Ripple to pay $125 million for violating investor-protection laws, way below the $2 billion the SEC had sought. The SEC filed the opening brief in its appeal in January but Garlinghouse said Wednesday that the agency has now dropped the appeal.

Other cryptocurrencies were also rising Wednesday. Bitcoin climbed 2.2% to $84,096, and Ethereum was up 6.6% to $2,031.

Write to George Glover at george.glover@dowjones.com

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March 19, 2025 10:33 ET (14:33 GMT)

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