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The New York Times (NYT) spotlighted Ripple on its front page today, positioning the company at the center of a shift in U.S. crypto regulation under President Donald Trump.
Ripple featured in an NYT investigative report today titled “Trump Warmed to Crypto, and S.E.C. Eased Up,” authored by Andrea Fuller, Ben Protess, and others.
The report, highlighted by XRP pundit Crypto Eri, examined how the SEC rolled back its enforcement actions against major crypto firms following Trump’s return to the White House.
The Company @Ripple has a mention on the front page of the New York Times today. https://t.co/16eeGCXatn pic.twitter.com/w8OaJwbM0R
— 🌸Crypto Eri ~ Carpe Diem (@sentosumosaba) December 15, 2025
SEC Shifting Stance on Crypto Cases
Within the story, the NYT highlighted that Ripple spent several years locked in an intense legal battle with the SEC. It noted that the SEC’s softer approach shows a bigger shift in how the federal government deals with crypto.
According to the report, the SEC, under the Trump administration, sought to reduce a court-ordered penalty imposed on Ripple, signaling a clear retreat from its previously aggressive posture.
For an agency known for rarely backing down, especially after securing partial legal victories, this move stood out. The NYT highlighted Ripple’s case as a symbol of a broader regulatory reversal rather than an isolated adjustment. It also mentioned other crypto-related cases the SEC froze and dismissed, including its cases against Binance and Gemini.
Overall, the New York Times reported that the SEC not only eased up on high-profile cases but also scaled back more than 60% of the crypto-related enforcement actions that were active when Trump resumed office. The regulator paused litigation, reduced penalties, and dismissed cases outright as part of this broader shift in approach.
Why Ripple’s Case Stands Out
While the analysis referenced several crypto firms, Ripple’s inclusion carries particular significance. Many industry observers long viewed the lawsuit, filed in December 2020, as a defining test of whether U.S. securities laws broadly apply to digital assets.
That question reached a turning point in July 2023, when a New York federal judge ruled that XRP itself is not a security. In the same landmark decision, the court held that Ripple’s programmatic sales of XRP did not constitute investment contracts.
However, it also found that the company violated securities laws in connection with certain past sales of XRP to institutional investors. As a result, Ripple was ordered to pay a $125 million fine and prohibited from further violating federal securities laws through its future institutional XRP sales.
Meanwhile, the SEC filed an appeal in October 2023, while Ripple also filed a cross-appeal. The case later took a dramatic turn after Donald Trump returned to the White House.
In the months following his inauguration, the SEC moved to freeze most ongoing crypto cases, including Ripple’s. It also sought to reduce the penalty and lift the injunction on the company.
Ultimately, efforts to modify the ruling proved unsuccessful. Both parties later agreed to withdraw their appeals and proceed under the original verdict. In August 2024, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit granted the joint request to dismiss the appeals, formally bringing the years-long Ripple case to a close.