Ripple CEO Says SEC Will Drop Its Appeal on Crypto Firm; XRP Token Jumps — WSJ

By Vicky Ge HuangThe price of the Ripple-linked XRP token jumped more than 10% Wednesday morning after Ripple Chief Executive Brad Garlinghouse said the Securities and Exchange Commission will withdraw its appeal of a previous ruling.In October, the SEC appealed a court decision that Ripple's sales of the XRP cryptocurrency over exchanges didn't have to comply with investor-protection laws.A Ripple spokeswoman confirmed that the SEC will drop its appeal against the company, subject to a commission vote and approval. XRP recently traded around $2.50, up 13% from its level 24 hours ago, according to CoinDesk data.The move is the latest sign that regulators are shifting toward a softer stance on crypto enforcement under the Trump administration. An SEC spokesman declined to comment.Over the past few weeks, the SEC has dismissed cases against Coinbase Global, Kraken and Consensys, while dropping multiple investigations into crypto companies. In many such cases, the agency said it is dropping the lawsuit or investigation while a new SEC crypto task force works on developing "a comprehensive and clear regulatory framework for crypto assets."Go deeper on Garlinghouse, Ripple and XRP:This item is part of a Wall Street Journal live coverage event. The full stream can be found by searching P/WSJL (WSJ Live Coverage).