The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is reportedly mulling whether the payments altcoin XRP could qualify as a commodity.
Crypto journalist Eleanor Terrett, citing two anonymous “well-placed sources,” reported earlier this week that the SEC’s lawsuit against Ripple appears to be wrapping up.
The lawsuit might have been resolved by now, but Ripple’s legal team has prolonged the case in an attempt to reduce a $125 million civil penalty ordered by a judge last year, according to Terrett’s reporting. The SEC has recently abandoned numerous high-profile crypto cases in accordance with the Trump Administration’s embrace of the sector.
Charles Gasparino, a Fox Business senior correspondent, reports that the SEC is also weighing whether XRP could be classified as a commodity.
The SEC first sued Ripple in late 2020 for allegedly selling XRP as an unregistered security.
In 2023, District Judge Analisa Torres ruled that Ripple’s automated, open-market sales of XRP did not constitute security offerings, contrary to what the SEC alleged.
The judge did, however, side with the SEC’s claim that Ripple’s sales of XRP directly to institutional buyers were securities offerings.
XRP is trading at $2.24 at time of writing. The fourth-ranked crypto asset by market cap is down nearly 14% in the past week.
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