The SEC commissioner Caroline Crenshaw publicly criticized the agency’s proposed regulations with Ripple Labs, expressing her concerns about the understanding of the DRI authority to regulate the cryptocurrency industry.
On May 8, 2025, the Securities and Exchange American Commission (SEC) and Ripple Labs concluded a settlement agreement, concluding a legal battle which began in December 2020.
Under the terms, Ripple will pay a penalty of $ 50 million, which is considerably reduced compared to the initial fine of $ 125 million imposed by judge Anala Torres in August 2024.
The remaining $ 75 million, currently detained in receivership, must be returned to Ripple, pending approval from the court.
This regulation follows a court decision which revealed that the institutional sales of Ripple de XRP violated the securities laws, while sales on public exchanges have not done so.
The two parties agreed to remove their respective calls if the court raises the injunction against Ripple, effectively putting one of the most supervised cases in the cryptographic industry.
The criticism of Commissioner Crenshaw highlights the internal dry tensions
SEC Commissioner Caroline Crenshaw has publicly criticized the regulations, expressing her concerns that she undermines investors’ protections and the agency authority.
In a press release, Crenshaw warned that the agreement “renders a bad service to public investment and undermines the role of the Court in the interpretation of our securities laws”.
It also argued that the regulations could create a “regulatory vacuum”, leaving vulnerable investors until a full regulatory framework is established.
The dissent of Crenshaw shows internal divisions within the SEC concerning the agency’s evolutionary approach to the application of cryptography.
The regulation also describes a change in the SEC withdrawn from aggressive actions of cryptography, as seen in the decline in prosecution against other cryptography companies such as Coinbase and Kraken.
In particular, the regulations had immediate implications on the market, the price of XRP undergoing a rapid wave.
Since the latest data, XRP is negotiated at around $ 2.38, reflecting the optimism of investors following the resolution of legal uncertainty.

What is the next step for the Ripple case?
Even with the dry and the ripple reaching an agreement on paper, the resolution of this high -level trial remains constantly evolving.
According to former federal prosecutor James Filan, the first obstacle is the indicative decision of judge Anali Torres.
The judge must officially agree to dissolve the injunction last August and approve the yield of $ 75 million in the whole. It is only then that the real procedural machinery can come into play.
If the Torres judge reports his consent, the dry and the undulation plan to ask the second Cour of Appeals for a limited dismissal, referring the case to his hearing to make the regulation order agreed.
This step would trigger the official request to cancel the injunction and redistribute the funds.
Once the injunction is lifted and the settlement funds are paid, the final law will be for both parties to request the Court of Appeal jointly to reject the appeal of the SEC and the appeal of Ripple.
At that time, after more than four years of dispute that started with the December 2020 SEC trial, alleging unregistered XRP titles, the case would finally end at its end.
The SEC commissioner criticizes the Ripple agreement, warns of the weakening of the legal authority appeared first on Cryptonews.