The CEO of Ripple, Brad Garlinghouse, defended US crypto regulation and revealed that his business spent legal fees totaling more than $200 million to defend itself against the Securities and Exchange Commission’s (SEC) complaint. Ripple Labs was sued by the SEC in December 2020 on the grounds that it sold XRP tokens in the amount of $1.3 billion in unregistered securities. Since then, Ripple has been defending the lawsuit in court, and has recently won some minor successes.
In a virtual conference, Garlinghouse criticized the US regulatory systems for lacking clarity and consistency and blamed the SEC for applying the securities laws inconsistently and for failing to provide clear guidelines on how to comply with them. Garlinghouse claimed that the SEC’s case against Ripple had an impact on both his business and the larger crypto sector. The case has caused uncertainty for other crypto companies and caused investors to lose faith in the industry.
Garlinghouse has previously criticized US crypto regulation. In August 2020, he published a blog post in which he stated that the lack of regulatory clarity in the US had pushed crypto innovation and talent overseas. He also emphasized how other countries, such as Singapore and Japan, provided clear guidelines on how to comply with securities regulations for crypto. He suggested US regulators provide clear and consistent regulatory guidelines in order to emulate those countries.
The current debate over how to regulate crypto in the US is reflected in Garlinghouse’s remarks. The lack of clear guidelines from US regulators has generated uncertainty for crypto firms and slowed the industry’s growth. As crypto gains popularity, authorities must offer clear and consistent guidance on how to comply with.. securities laws.
Source
Nwaokocha, A. (2023, May 8). Defending against SEC to cost ripple $200m, CEO Brad Garlinghouse says. Cointelegraph. https://cointelegraph.com/news/defending-against-sec-to-cost-ripple-200m-ceo-brad-garlinghouse-says
