TL;DR

• Ripple’s legal battle with the SEC sees renewed optimism with Gary Gensler’s resignation and speculation of the case being dropped under new leadership.
• Legal experts suggest a possible $125M settlement or restructured terms, though opinions on dismissal vary.

Is the End Near?

Despite the numerous developments as of late, the lawsuit between Ripple and the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) remains ongoing. It dates back to December 2020 when the regulator accused the company and some of its executives of illegally raising $1.3 billion through an unregistered securities offering by selling its native cryptocurrency, XRP.

The Ripple community had cause for celebration recently. First, they cheered Donald Trump’s presidential win, who promised to fire the SEC’s Chairman Gary Gensler on day 1 after assuming office. Later, the regulator’s leader (who is known for his anti-crypto stance) confirmed he will vacate his post on January 20 (the day marking Trump’s inauguration). 

Somewhat expectedly, these developments have resulted in a massive resurgence for XRP’s price and speculation that the legal battle will soon be officially resolved under Gensler’s successor.

Most recently, Chris Giancarlo (former Chairman of the CFTC) claimed the SEC might drop the case during Trump’s administration. 

“I would recommend that regulatory agencies drop a lot of these cases where they’ve lost. I think they should drop the XRP case. I would bet that they would,” he added.

The Possible Scenarios

The American attorneys Jeremy Hogan and Fred Rispoli also touched upon the matter recently. The former predicted that the Commission might dismiss all non-fraud crypto lawsuits filed over the years. He believes the Ripple case could be settled for the previously ruled amount of $125 million. 

“It would be…awkward to settle for less than what was already awarded by a Court! The Coinbase and other cases in litigation will simply be dismissed. This will take some time. Not January, but perhaps before summer. That’s my call, and I’m sticking to it,” Hogan said.

Rispoli thinks that dropping the lawsuit is “unrealistic,” claiming the $125 million penalty for Ripple is the biggest win the SEC can gain. The lawyer also forecasted that the watchdog’s new potential leadership will “recognize this whole case was idiotic and settle at that point.”

“This might include a reduction in the fine and an agreement that current sales of XRP by Ripple are sufficiently structured to not be investment contracts,“ Rispoli added.

Meanwhile, Ripple’s CLO Stuart Alderoty recently sparked rumors that the case’s resolution might be just around the corner. In a mystic post on X, he hinted at a complete victory on the legal front, praising the efforts of CEO Brad Garlinghouse and the entire team.

Bitcoin (BTC) has stabilized around $93,000 after a period of a downtrend in recent days. 

Meanwhile, numerous alternative coins have entered green territory today (November 27). Some of the notable gainers include Stellar (XLM), Avalanche (AVAX), Cardano (ADA), and more.

Is BTC Aiming at $100K Again?

The past few days have not been kind to the primary cryptocurrency, whose price nosedived from almost $100,000 on November 22 to approximately $90,700 on November 26. Interestingly, the pullback coincided with some bullish developments, such as MicroStrategy’s record purchase of a whopping 55,500 BTC (equaling around $5.4 billion). 

In the past 24 hours, though, the bulls have managed to recover some of the lost ground, pushing the asset’s valuation above $93,000 (a level that has been maintained for the last several hours).

It will be interesting to see if BTC will try another attempt toward the psychological mark of $100K or if the correction will last a bit longer. 

Meanwhile, the asset’s market cap has dropped to $1.85 trillion (per CoinGecko’s data). However, BTC’s dominance over the altcoins remains above 57%.

Alts on the Move

Unlike Bitcoin, some alternative coins have witnessed substantial price increases on a 24-hour scale. Stellar (XLM) continues to stun the crypto community, registering a fresh 8% resurgence and reclaiming $0.50. Avalanche (AVAX) and Cardano (ADA) have also performed quite well, with gains of 6% and 4%, respectively.

Ripple’s XRP is part of the club, too, albeit seeing a more modest rally of around 2%. At the same time, its price is up almost 180% in the last month thanks to some important developments such as Trump’s win in the US presidential elections and Gary Gensler’s (the Chairman of the US SEC) announcement to vacate his post in January next year.

Other well-known altcoins registering mild pumps in the last 24 hours include Ethereum (ETH), Tron (TRX), Polkadot (DOT), Shiba Inu (SHIB), Litecoin (LTC), and others.

The total market capitalization of the crypto sector currently stands at $3.36 trillion, representing a 1% drop from November 26.

Ripple Labs has announced a $25 million contribution to the cryptocurrency-focused Fairshake political action committee (PAC).

This latest injection increases Fairshake’s total war chest for the upcoming 2026 congressional elections to $103 million.

Ripple’s Support

The donation follows Fairshake’s influential role in the 2024 elections, where it emerged as the largest PAC of the cycle. According to campaign finance watchdog OpenSecrets, Fairshake raised over $200 million, contributing significantly to the success of crypto-friendly candidates.

Data shows that of the 22 congressional candidates receiving $1 million or more from the PAC during the 2024 election cycle, at least 90% won their races.

Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse commented on the development in a post on X, stating:

“Electing pro-crypto, pro-growth, and pro-innovation candidates is a no-brainer, and to continue that momentum, Ripple is contributing another $25M to Fairshake. Onwards!”

He described Fairshake as the most successful bipartisan super PAC in American history.

Chief Legal Officer Stuart Alderoty reaffirmed Ripple’s dedication to the PAC, noting that the company had pledged to be a leading supporter of Fairshake from its inception, even before its potential impact became evident. He also emphasized the firm’s determination to remain a strong advocate for innovation in Washington for years.

This is Ripple’s third donation to the fund over the past year. In June, the crypto company gave a similar amount to the PAC in preparation for the 2026 mid-term elections.

At the time, Garlinghouse explained that its offerings to Fairshake are part of the company’s broader efforts to actively invest in raising voter awareness about cryptocurrency’s future role.

$103 Million War Chest

Ripple Labs’ latest contribution follows major donations from two of Fairshake’s other key supporters: the Coinbase crypto exchange and Andreessen Horowitz’s crypto-focused division, a16z. Just two weeks ago, the former offered $25 million, while the latter contributed $23 million to the fund.

Combined with the $30 million carried over from the 2024 cycle, the $73 million Fairshake received from the three donors has pushed the funds in its coffers to $103 million.

In the last election cycle, crypto made giant strides, with more than 260 legislators sympathetic to digital assets elected. Fairshake and two affiliates, Protect Progress and Defend American Jobs, spent nearly $240 million on more than 50 races, securing victories in an overwhelming majority of them.

The super PAC is now positioned as an unmatched political force, ready to influence the legislative agenda for the session starting in 2026.