Ripple CEO speaks on SEC lawsuit

Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...

Ripple’s CEO Brad Garlinghouse has taken to Twitter to answer what he considers to be 5 key questions regarding the Ripple vs. the SEC court battle. In his Twitter thread, Garlinghouse explores, settling the case, the dilemma that exchanges who list XRP face, incentives to use XRP, why Ripple has been so quiet about the case, and how Ripple Labs inc. investors feel about the situation. 

For those who don’t know, on December 22nd, the SEC announced that they had sued Ripple Labs Inc, the company that created XRP, as well as Ripple Labs CEO Brad Garlinghouse and co-founder Chris Larsen, for conducting a $1.3 billion unregistered securities offering. 

The lawsuit has prompted many exchanges to halt XRP trading, many investors to sell XRP, and many people around the world to wonder how this is going to end for Ripple. For the most part, Ripple Lab’s Inc. and its executive team have been quiet since the SEC pressed charges–however, Garlinghouse and Ripple’s General Counsel Stuart Alderoty, have finally spoken.

Here are the key takeaways.

Key takeaways

Settlement: When it comes to settling with the SEC, Garlinghouse said that Ripple Labs inc. has tried and will continue to try. 

Regarding digital currency exchanges: When it comes to how exchanges have been approaching their XRP trading pairs due to the lawsuit, Garlinghouse says,

Delisting and halting are 2 separate things – most are halting trading. With 8 different govt agencies, each with their own (and sometimes opposing) views of crypto, U.S. market participants are facing conflicting policies and no surprise, some act conservatively.

Garlinghouse also made sure to mention that Ripple Labs inc. has no control over where XRP is listed.

Why Ripple has been so quiet: Garlinghouse says that Ripple Labs has not said much regarding the lawsuit because the legal process moves slowly. However, Garlinghouse did mention that Ripple’s General Counsel Stuart Alderoty is involved and that Ripple Labs’ full legal team will be announced soon. 

What about Ripple Labs inc. investors?: Garlinghouse claims that Ripple Labs inc. investors still have faith in Ripple Labs. He also mentions that Ripple’s Series C investment round leader Tetragon Financial Group is looking to take advantage of Ripple via the SEC lawsuit.

What’s next for Ripple

The Southern District Court of New York has scheduled Ripple’s initial pretrial conference for 10 am on February 22nd; the pretrial will give the world a first look into what Ripple is up against.