Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse is certain that his company, Ripple will win its legal battle with the SEC. He and others are accused of committing securities fraud by selling XRP, a cryptocurrency. According to the SEC, XRP should be classed as a virtual currency rather than an investment contract like a stock.
Ripple CEO, Brad Garlinghouse says the company is doing ‘Extremely Well’ in SEC Illegal-Securities Lawsuit
Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse is certain that his company Ripple will win its legal battle with the SEC. Ripple, Garlinghouse, and executive chairman Chris Larsen are accused of engaging in a securities offering by selling XRP, a cryptocurrency that the startup uses for commercial purposes and is closely associated with.
“The case has gone exceptionally well, and far better than I could have imagined when it began approximately 15 months ago,” Garlinghouse said Thursday during a fireside discussion presented by CNBC at the Paris Blockchain Week Summit. “However, the wheels of justice turn slowly.”
Ripple has contested the SEC’s findings, stating that XRP should be classified as a virtual currency rather than an investment contract, such as a stock.
CNBC contacted the SEC, but no one was available to comment right away. This week, a federal judge ruled that the SEC could not amend the wording of letters citing conflicts of interest in its handling of XRP and other assets, such as ether.
Ripple is “already functioning in the worst-case scenario,” having sold “zero” enterprise contracts to financial institutions in the United States last year. “We’re experiencing record growth,” he remarked. “It’s just outside the borders of the United States.”
Ripple is a SWIFT alternative that facilitates trillions of dollars in payments every day. The firm sells its software to banks and fintech firms. Ripple also employs XRP, the sixth-largest cryptocurrency in terms of market capitalization, to simplify cross-border transactions.
The United States will classify most tokens trading on platforms as securities if Ripple loses. SEC registration would be required for these platforms.
In January, it was reported that Ripple was hopeful that the dispute would be resolved by April. According to Jeremy Hogan, a Ripple community member, there is a minimal chance that the suit will be extended beyond this month. Around that time, Garlinghouse claimed that the judge appeared to recognize that the case wasn’t solely about Ripple and may have far-reaching consequences.
“If you determine XRP as a security of Ripple, we have to know every person that owns XRP,” he said. “That’s an SEC requirement. You have to know all of your shareholders. It’s not possible.”
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