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- The SEC has confirmed that it is dropping all charges against Ripple co-founder Chris Larsen and CEO Brad Garlinghouse.
- Facing a nearly certain loss in the XRP lawsuit, many in the crypto community speculate that the regulator could opt to settle with Ripple.
Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse and co-founder Chris Larson are today celebrating the SEC’s decision to drop the cases against them. Nearly three years ago, the SEC accused the two of aiding and abetting the company in violating federal securities laws in its XRP transactions. Following this decision, the trial date slated for April 2024 has been canceled.
Brad Garlinghouse has reacted to the news, reminding the community that Ripple has now celebrated three wins against the SEC. The CEO further added that the SEC was looking to personally ruin him, Larsen, and the company they had built. Furthermore, he has called on the irony of the SEC going after the executives all while secretly meeting with FTX’s Sam Bankman-Fried and failing to protect consumers and businesses from the now-defunct FTX crypto exchange.
Today was an even better day.
Ripple: 3
SEC: 0In all seriousness, Chris and I (in a case involving no claims of fraud or misrepresentations) were targeted by the SEC in a ruthless attempt to personally ruin us and the company so many have worked hard to build for over a… https://t.co/YsQxewFnj9
— Brad Garlinghouse (@bgarlinghouse) October 19, 2023
Larsen who has also celebrated the SEC dropping the case has also made comments on the behavior of the SEC over the last 3 years and the government introducing policies that kill the innovation in the industry. The executive posted on X
The last 3 years we’ve seen a rogue administrative state that needs to be held accountable for its actions – not just an investigation into the conflicts of interests that led to these baseless claims, but how the US actively demolished its global standing as the home for innovation, with thousands of jobs moving overseas.
Enough is enough.
Even before this development, the community was awash with rumors that the SEC would seek a settlement with Ripple. The SEC looks certain to lose the legal battle, especially after the court granted Ripple a partial win, finding that sales of XRP on public exchanges were not unregistered securities offerings. The judge has recently called for both parties to hold settlement talks. This will require representatives of both parties to meet for at least one hour.
Following this news, XRP has performed exceptionally well over the last 24 hours. Going into the weekend, the altcoin has added around 8 percent to trade at $0.51.
In addition the the big loss for the SEC in the XRP case, the regulatory agency has also been losing in its attempt to hinder the approval of a Bitcoin spot ETF. Grayscale recently won its case against the SEC on appeal in August. The court ruled that the SEC must reconsider the Grayscale application to convert the Grayscale BTC Trust to an ETF. The SEC was expected to appeal this decision but failed to do so.
Experts believe that the SEC is likely to prove the first Bitcoin spot ETF over the next couple of months. Furthermore, the regulator is likely to approve multiple ETFs at the same time.
