The virtual asset XRP (Ripple), which had surged on news of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) dropping its appeal, turned downward in just one day.

On the 21st, Brad Garlinghouse, CEO of Ripple Labs, the issuer of XRP, announced through X (formerly Twitter) the previous day, “The SEC is withdrawing its appeal,” and “This is the moment we have been waiting for.” He continued, “This is a huge victory for Ripple and the virtual asset industry.”

The lawsuit between Ripple Labs and the SEC is considered a representative lawsuit between the virtual asset industry and the U.S. regulatory authorities. In December 2020, the SEC claimed that Ripple Labs sold XRP without registering it as a security. It filed a lawsuit with a fine of $2 billion (about 2.93 trillion won).

However, in July 2023, the New York District Court ruled that “XRP is subject to securities laws only when sold to institutional investors, and is not a security to the general public.” The fine was also significantly reduced to $125 million (about 183 billion won).

This was seen as a de facto victory for Ripple Labs. However, the SEC appealed and the issue of XRP’s “security” was sent to a higher court. The SEC gave up on the appeal after the Trump administration took over as SEC Chairman Paul Atkins, who is friendly to crypto assets.

With this news, the price of XRP soared the day before. According to CoinMarketCap, a virtual asset market relay site, the price of one XRP was traded at $2.56 (about 3,740 won), up nearly 14%. However, as of 2:50 p.m. on that day, the price of XRP was down 1.05%, at $2.4 (about 3,520 won).