Ripple Hit With $125 Million Penalty, Fraction of SEC Claim (3)

Ripple Labs Inc. was ordered by a federal judge to pay a civil penalty of $125 million for improperly selling its XRP token to institutional investors, a fraction of what US regulators had sought in a long legal battle with the cryptocurrency company.

The order came after the Securities and Exchange Commission sued Ripple Labs in 2020, claiming it broke the law when it raised money by selling the digital token without registering it as a security. The case has been closely watched because of its implications for the SEC’s regulatory power over crypto.

The agency had sought almost $2 ...