XRP SEC Lawsuit News

Ripple, a company that provides blockchain-based payment services, has revealed that it will have spent $200 million defending itself against the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission’s (SEC) lawsuit by the time the legal battle is over, according to CEO Brad Garlinghouse. The SEC has accused Ripple, along with Garlinghouse and co-founder Chris Larsen, of violating U.S. securities laws by selling XRP without registering it with the regulator. Ripple, however, argues that XRP is a digital currency, not a security.

The SEC has taken similar enforcement actions against other cryptocurrency companies, including Coinbase and Kraken. Many within the industry have criticized the regulator’s actions, with some suggesting that it may drive companies outside the U.S. to avoid the regulatory scrutiny.

Is The XRP Lawsuit Almost Over

Garlinghouse also highlighted that Chairman Gary Gensler and other SEC officials have made statements in the past that contradict the regulator’s claim that XRP is a security. He pointed to a video of Gensler, as a professor at MIT, stating that 75% of digital assets are commodities, which seems to contradict his current position that all digital assets are securities.

The SEC has yet to respond to Garlinghouse’s comments, and it remains unclear when the legal battle between Ripple and the regulator will conclude. In December 2020, the SEC initiated a lawsuit against Ripple, alleging that the company and its executives illegally sold XRP to investors without registering it as a security. Ripple has argued that XRP is not an investment contract and is instead used to facilitate cross-border transactions between financial institutions.

Published by HOLR Magazine.