Ripple’s CEO, Bradley K. Garlinghouse has said the company’s ongoing lawsuit with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) could come to a close before the end of the first 6 months of the year, as the case has been fully briefed in front of the Judge.
The CEO stated in an interview with CNBC that he is happy about the position of the matter in relation to the law and the facts. He highlighted that the Judge’s outcome is not only significant to Ripple but also to the entire crypto industry in the United States.
Furthermore, Garlinghouse claimed that Ripple is currently flourishing outside the US because those countries were not impacted by the Lawsuit.
While speaking about the FTX debacle, Garlinghouse said Ripple had exposures of over $10 million to the defunct FTX exchange. It appears that Ripple’s exposure to FTX may be the reason why Garlinghouse announced the firm’s intentions to purchase some components of the bankrupt firm.
In a different interview, Garlinghouse slammed the US SEC saying that their behavior has been embarrassing to him as a US citizen. He also stated that Ripple will only settle with the SEC if there is clarity that XRP is not a security on a go-forward basis.
SEC’s Allegations Against Ripple
The SEC filed a lawsuit against Ripple and two other executives in 2020, claiming that they raised more than $1.3 billion through a continuous, unregistered issuance of digital asset securities.
The SEC asserts that the defendants marketed XRP to retail investors under the pretenses of investment contracts and securities, but did not register the offering or meet the requirements for an exemption.
The SEC also claimed that the company and its executives made a number of public statements in media appearances and on social media, that were materially false and misleading about the nature of XRP and Ripple’s business and relationship to XRP. The regulator also said that the defendants profited from the sale of XRP without disclosing the nature of their enterprise to customers.
Ripple, however, contested the claim, arguing that XRP is used in its operations to streamline international transactions between banks and other financial institutions and should not be viewed as an investment contract.
Meanwhile, Craig Wright blasted David Schwartz, Ripple’s Chief Technology Officer in a recent argument on Twitter, stating that Ripple’s XRP is the most ineffective “pump-and-dump scheme” in the cryptocurrency industry.
