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.

On Tuesday, two NASA astronauts who had been in orbit since June, Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore, splashed down in calm, azure waters off the coast of the Florida Panhandle, concluding a saga that had captivated the country since last summer.