NEW YORK, March 25 (Reuters) - Ripple Labs agreed to

settle a U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission civil lawsuit

over the alleged sale of unregistered securities and pay just

$50 million of a previously imposed $125 million fine, the

cryptocurrency company's chief legal officer said on Tuesday.

The accord would end one of the SEC's highest-profile

cryptocurrency cases, as the regulator eases oversight of the

industry.

Ripple Chief Legal Officer Stuart Alderoty said in a post on

X that the SEC would keep $50 million of the $125 million fine

imposed in August by U.S. District Judge Analisa Torres in

Manhattan and now in escrow earning interest.

Alderoty said a settlement requires approval by the SEC and

the judge. Ripple said there is no admission of wrongdoing.

The SEC declined to comment.

Ripple said last week that the SEC had ended its appeal of

Torres' July 2023 decision that the XRP token sold by Ripple on

public exchanges did not meet the legal definition of a

security.

Ripple appealed another part of Torres' decision, which said

that $728 million of XRP sales to institutional investors should

have complied with securities laws. Alderoty said Ripple will

end that appeal.

XRP is the fourth-largest cryptocurrency by market value,

trailing bitcoin, Ethereum and Tether, the market service

CoinMarketCap said on Tuesday.

Since U.S. President Donald Trump's return to the White

House, the SEC ended civil lawsuits against crypto exchanges

Coinbase and Kraken.

The regulator also said it may resolve a civil fraud case

against Chinese entrepreneur Justin Sun, an adviser to a

Trump-backed crypto project.

Trump nominated Paul Atkins, a Washington lawyer considered

supportive of the crypto industry, to chair the SEC. Atklns'

U.S. Senate confirmation hearing is scheduled for Thursday.