NEW YORK, March 19 (Reuters) - Ripple Labs said on

Wednesday the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission ended its

appeal from a court ruling that the regulator's prior chief had

said would make it harder to oversee cryptocurrency markets.

The SEC had been appealing a July 2023 decision by U.S.

District Judge Analisa Torres in Manhattan that the XRP token

sold by Ripple on public exchanges did not meet the legal

definition of a security.

Torres also gave the SEC a partial victory against Ripple,

saying $728 million of XRP sales to institutional investors

should have complied with securities laws.

She fined Ripple $125 million last August, but put the fine

on hold while Ripple appealed to the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of

Appeals in Manhattan. That appeal remains pending.

In a post on X, Ripple Chief Executive Brad Garlinghouse

called the end of the SEC appeal a "resounding victory" and

"long overdue surrender" by the regulator.

Ripple Chief Legal Officer Stuart Alderoty posted separately

that "Ripple is now in the driver's seat and we'll evaluate how

best to pursue our cross appeal. Regardless, today is a day to

celebrate."

The SEC declined to comment.

Since U.S. President Donald Trump began his second White

House term in January, the SEC has retreated on crypto

oversight.

It ended civil lawsuits against crypto exchanges Coinbase

and Kraken, and said it may resolve its civil fraud

case against Chinese entrepreneur Justin Sun, an adviser to a

Trump-backed crypto project.

Trump, meanwhile, nominated Paul Atkins, a Washington lawyer

seen as supportive of the crypto industry, to become SEC chair.

Atkins would replace Gary Gensler, who many in that industry

reviled.

The SEC lawsuit accusing Ripple of offering unregistered

securities began in December 2020, four weeks before Trump ended

his first White House term.