Lawyer Bill Morgan: SEC Lawsuit Can No Longer Excuse XRP's Stagnation
Date: 2025-09-24 Author: Henry Casey Categories: CRYPTO PAYMENTS
Ripple recently transferred $125 million to the US Treasury Department, fully settling its obligations in the case initiated by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) in late 2020. This information became known thanks to documents published by former SEC lawyer Mark Fagel.
As a reminder, in late 2020, the regulator accused Ripple of conducting an unregistered ICO and declared XRP to be a security. Three years later, in the summer of 2023, Federal Judge Analisa Torres ruled that XRP tokens traded on secondary markets do not meet the definition of securities. However, the SEC challenged this ruling and continued its legal pressure. In 2025, the parties reached a settlement: the regulator proposed reducing the fine to $50 million, but the court upheld the demand to pay the entire original amount of $125 million.
Lawyer Bill Morgan believes that this is the end of the case against Ripple and can no longer serve as an argument for critics of the cryptocurrency. He emphasized that the protracted proceedings have essentially "exhausted themselves" and should no longer hinder the development of XRP.
Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse previously noted that before the SEC's intervention, XRP held the second-largest position in the global cryptocurrency market capitalization rankings, behind only Bitcoin. Since the case began, the company has lost a significant portion of its market share.
XRP currently trades at $2.86, with a market capitalization of $171.2 billion. This makes the token the fourth-largest cryptocurrency in the world.
Morgan previously stated that the use of XRP within Ripple's On-Demand Liquidity (ODL) service cannot be considered a violation of securities laws. He argued that ODL clients are not investors, but rather individuals and companies using the technology for cross-border payments.
Therefore, according to lawyers, the resolution of the dispute with the SEC opens new opportunities for Ripple and its cryptocurrency, and the question of XRP's legal status in the US should no longer be an obstacle to its development.
