By Ovunc Kutlu
ISTANBUL (AA) – Ripple Labs, a US-based technology company that has developed the Ripple payment protocol and exchange network, was fined $125 million Wednesday after four years of litigation with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).
"The SEC’s motion for remedies and the entry of final judgment is granted in part and denied in part," Judge Analisa Torres of New York said in her filing.
"The Court shall enter a final judgment enjoining Ripple from further violations of the securities laws and imposing a civil penalty of $125,035,150," she added.
The SEC in 2020 accused Ripple, a blockchain-based digital payment network and protocol, of raising $1.3 billion through the sale of its native currency XRP, which it claimed to be an unregistered security.
While Judge Torres ruled last year that some of the XRP sales did not violate securities laws, she noted that other direct sales to institutional investors were securities.
After the final ruling Wednesday, XRP's value climbed to as high as $0.6434, while it was trading around $0.6273 at 6 p.m. EDT (2200GMT) for a daily gain of 23%.