XRP buyers who were part of the eight-year class action against Ripple Labs will receive nothing from it: the case, In re Ripple Labs Inc. Litigation, closed on April 6, 2026 after the Ninth Circuit ruled the federal securities claims were filed too late. There is no settlement fund and nothing to claim.
What Happened
The class action, filed in 2018 in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California and consolidated as In re Ripple Labs Inc. Litigation, No. 4:18-cv-06753-PJH, alleged that Ripple Labs, its subsidiary XRP II and CEO Brad Garlinghouse sold XRP as an unregistered security and made misleading statements about it. Ripple denied the claims.In June 2024, Judge Phyllis J. Hamilton granted summary judgment to Ripple on the federal claims, holding them barred by the Securities Act's three-year statute of repose. On January 27, 2026, a Ninth Circuit panel affirmed in an unpublished decision. It held that Ripple first offered XRP to the public in 2013, that its 2017 monthly releases of XRP were not a separate offering, and that the clock therefore ran out years before the 2018 complaint. The court did not decide whether XRP is a security.
One claim survived: the lead plaintiff's individual claim under the California Corporations Code over allegedly misleading statements. On April 3, 2026, the parties stipulated to dismiss it with prejudice, and the court entered the dismissal and closed the case on April 6. The filing says the parties entered a settlement agreement and mutual release, that each side bears its own attorneys' fees, and that Ripple waived its right to collect $210,591.52 in court costs previously taxed against the lead plaintiff. The terms of any payment under that agreement were not filed, and nothing in it runs to the class.
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The SEC Case Ended Separately
The class action ran alongside the SEC's enforcement case against Ripple in New York, which ended in August 2025 when both sides dismissed their appeals. That left in place the August 2024 final judgment ordering Ripple to pay a $125,035,150 civil penalty and barring it from further violations of the Securities Act's registration rules. SEC penalties are paid to the government; the SEC case did not create a payout for XRP holders either.Questions
Is there an XRP class action settlement?
No. The XRP buyers' class action against Ripple, In re Ripple Labs Inc. Litigation, closed on April 6, 2026 without a class settlement. The lead plaintiff's last remaining individual claim was dismissed with prejudice under a private settlement agreement, and no fund, claim form or payment to XRP buyers was created.
Why did the XRP class action fail?
The federal claims that XRP was sold as an unregistered security were filed too late. On January 27, 2026, the Ninth Circuit held that the Securities Act's three-year statute of repose began running when Ripple first offered XRP to the public in 2013, and that Ripple's 2017 sales were not a separate offering, so a suit filed in 2018 was time-barred. The court did not decide whether XRP is a security.
Is the SEC case against Ripple over?
Yes. The SEC and Ripple dismissed their appeals in August 2025, leaving in place the 2024 final judgment that ordered Ripple to pay a $125,035,150 civil penalty and barred it from further registration violations. Penalties in an SEC enforcement case are paid to the government; that case created no payout for XRP holders.
Did the court decide whether XRP is a security?
No. The Ninth Circuit decided only that the federal claims were filed outside the Securities Act's three-year statute of repose, so it never reached whether XRP sales were securities offerings. That question was litigated in the separate SEC case, which ended with the 2024 final judgment left in place.
Sources
• Stipulation of Dismissal With Prejudice and Order, In re Ripple Labs Inc. Litigation, No. 4:18-cv-06753-PJH (N.D. Cal. April 6, 2026), Dkt. 471• Ninth Circuit memorandum, In re Ripple Labs, Inc. Litigation, Nos. 24-7599 & 25-483 (January 27, 2026)
• District court docket (CourtListener)
• CoinDesk, “SEC's Long-Running Case Against Ripple Officially Over” (August 7, 2025)
