The victory of cryptocurrency major Ripple over a US lawsuit may have proven its "grit" in the face of legal turmoil but it apparently isn't enough to calm nerves in a highly volatile market.
The US Securities and Exchange Commission eventually decided to back down on its half-decade legal fight against the San Francisco-based company, Ripple chief executive Brad Garlinghouse revealed on Wednesday.
The case was "doomed from the start" and the victory "resounding" not only for Ripple, but also "for crypto, every way you look at it", chief executive Mr Garlinghouse declared in an X post.
Ripple said it was "the first crypto company with the grit and resources to stand up to the SEC’s overreach". However, the win may not have much of a ripple effect on the broader sentiment within the industry.
Why was the SEC chasing Ripple?
The Ripple-SEC tussle began in 2020 when the regulator alleged that the company raised $1.3 billion in 2013 by selling the token in an unregistered security offering. Ripple countered that XRP should not be treated as a security.
The case came to an end in July 2023 when a judge ruled that XRP – and, broadly, cryptocurrency – is not a security if it is sold to the public on an exchange, but would be if sold to institutional investors. That dealt a major blow to the SEC's efforts to rein in the industry.
Shortly after that, the company said its win highlighted the need for industry players and governments to collaborate and work together to help advance the technology deemed the future of finance – instead of going to court and try to take down crypto players – Ripple president Monica Long told The National.
Is it really over?
Not quite: Ripple and the SEC are still locked in court over part of their litigation involving a $125 million fine imposed by the judge who handed the company the 2023 victory.
The fine is in escrow; Ripple is to decide if it will appeal or pay up, the company's chief legal officer Stuart Alderoty told Bloomberg.
How did XRP react?
As expected, XRP – the fourth-biggest cryptocurrency by market capitalisation, according to CoinMarketCap data – jumped by about 10 per cent to more than $2.51 following the news.
However, it quickly cooled down: as of Friday afternoon, XRP has lost about 5.6 per cent from that peak. That might have been a knee-jerk reaction, since the crypto industry has more things to worry about.
What's muting Ripple's victory?
Two major things: the uncertainty stemming from the trade wars, led by the administration of US President Donald Trump, and the general volatility in stock markets.
Bitcoin and the overall industry soared to new heights after Mr Trump recaptured the White House, promising to "fight like hell" to protect cryptos. However, the magic has since faded, amid America's tariff wars with its key trading partners.
Last month's record $1.5 billion hack of Dubai-based Bybit didn't help sentiment either, as it continued to show the vulnerability of the largely unregulated digital assets industry.
Meanwhile, stock markets are also feeling the pressure of macroeconomic and geopolitical pressures, despite positive data coming from the US and China, the world's two biggest economies.
That's because investors are now reconsidering their positions on high-risk assets like cryptos and trending towards safer ones such as gold, which hit another all-time high on Thursday breaching the $3,000 mark for the first time last week.
On Wall Street, major indices are down in 2025: the S&P 500 has lost 3.7 per cent, the Dow Jones Industrial Average has retreated 1.4 per cent and the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite has shed 8.4 per cent. At this point last year, the Dow was up nearly 5 per cent, while both the S&P 500 and Nasdaq were soaring at least 9 per cent.
The effects of all these have been mirrored in the crypto market: from a record high of more than $109,000 in January, Bitcoin has retreated by nearly a quarter. It was trading at a little more than $83,500 in Friday afternoon trading.
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
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The specs
Engine: Four electric motors, one at each wheel
Power: 579hp
Torque: 859Nm
Transmission: Single-speed automatic
Price: From Dh825,900
On sale: Now
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Benefits of first-time home buyers' scheme
- Priority access to new homes from participating developers
- Discounts on sales price of off-plan units
- Flexible payment plans from developers
- Mortgages with better interest rates, faster approval times and reduced fees
- DLD registration fee can be paid through banks or credit cards at zero interest rates
What can victims do?
Always use only regulated platforms
Stop all transactions and communication on suspicion
Save all evidence (screenshots, chat logs, transaction IDs)
Report to local authorities
Warn others to prevent further harm
Courtesy: Crystal Intelligence
The smuggler
Eldarir had arrived at JFK in January 2020 with three suitcases, containing goods he valued at $300, when he was directed to a search area.
Officers found 41 gold artefacts among the bags, including amulets from a funerary set which prepared the deceased for the afterlife.
Also found was a cartouche of a Ptolemaic king on a relief that was originally part of a royal building or temple.
The largest single group of items found in Eldarir’s cases were 400 shabtis, or figurines.
Khouli conviction
Khouli smuggled items into the US by making false declarations to customs about the country of origin and value of the items.
According to Immigration and Customs Enforcement, he provided “false provenances which stated that [two] Egyptian antiquities were part of a collection assembled by Khouli's father in Israel in the 1960s” when in fact “Khouli acquired the Egyptian antiquities from other dealers”.
He was sentenced to one year of probation, six months of home confinement and 200 hours of community service in 2012 after admitting buying and smuggling Egyptian antiquities, including coffins, funerary boats and limestone figures.
For sale
A number of other items said to come from the collection of Ezeldeen Taha Eldarir are currently or recently for sale.
Their provenance is described in near identical terms as the British Museum shabti: bought from Salahaddin Sirmali, "authenticated and appraised" by Hossen Rashed, then imported to the US in 1948.
- An Egyptian Mummy mask dating from 700BC-30BC, is on offer for £11,807 ($15,275) online by a seller in Mexico
- A coffin lid dating back to 664BC-332BC was offered for sale by a Colorado-based art dealer, with a starting price of $65,000
- A shabti that was on sale through a Chicago-based coin dealer, dating from 1567BC-1085BC, is up for $1,950
Sholto Byrnes on Myanmar politics
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
2025 Fifa Club World Cup groups
Group A: Palmeiras, Porto, Al Ahly, Inter Miami.
Group B: Paris Saint-Germain, Atletico Madrid, Botafogo, Seattle.
Group C: Bayern Munich, Auckland City, Boca Juniors, Benfica.
Group D: Flamengo, ES Tunis, Chelsea, Leon.
Group E: River Plate, Urawa, Monterrey, Inter Milan.
Group F: Fluminense, Borussia Dortmund, Ulsan, Mamelodi Sundowns.
Group G: Manchester City, Wydad, Al Ain, Juventus.
Group H: Real Madrid, Al Hilal, Pachuca, Salzburg.
Global state-owned investor ranking by size
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United States
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China
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UAE
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Japan
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Norway
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Canada
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Singapore
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Australia
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Saudi Arabia
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South Korea
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UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Innotech Profile
Date started: 2013
Founder/CEO: Othman Al Mandhari
Based: Muscat, Oman
Sector: Additive manufacturing, 3D printing technologies
Size: 15 full-time employees
Stage: Seed stage and seeking Series A round of financing
Investors: Oman Technology Fund from 2017 to 2019, exited through an agreement with a new investor to secure new funding that it under negotiation right now.
More from Neighbourhood Watch:
Jetour T1 specs
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Tearful appearance
Chancellor Rachel Reeves set markets on edge as she appeared visibly distraught in parliament on Wednesday.
Legislative setbacks for the government have blown a new hole in the budgetary calculations at a time when the deficit is stubbornly large and the economy is struggling to grow.
She appeared with Keir Starmer on Thursday and the pair embraced, but he had failed to give her his backing as she cried a day earlier.
A spokesman said her upset demeanour was due to a personal matter.
What are the main cyber security threats?
Cyber crime - This includes fraud, impersonation, scams and deepfake technology, tactics that are increasingly targeting infrastructure and exploiting human vulnerabilities.
Cyber terrorism - Social media platforms are used to spread radical ideologies, misinformation and disinformation, often with the aim of disrupting critical infrastructure such as power grids.
Cyber warfare - Shaped by geopolitical tension, hostile actors seek to infiltrate and compromise national infrastructure, using one country’s systems as a springboard to launch attacks on others.
Our legal consultant
Name: Hassan Mohsen Elhais
Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.
What are the influencer academy modules?
- Mastery of audio-visual content creation.
- Cinematography, shots and movement.
- All aspects of post-production.
- Emerging technologies and VFX with AI and CGI.
- Understanding of marketing objectives and audience engagement.
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- Professional ethics.
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Our legal consultant
Name: Hassan Mohsen Elhais
Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.
