Brad Garlinghouse, CEO of Ripple Labs Inc., recently criticized the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) for losing sight of their role to protect investors. During the Ripple Swell conference in Dubai, he expressed his concerns to CNBC’s Dan Murphy. Garlinghouse questioned the SEC’s motives in the ongoing controversy between Ripple and the SEC, saying, “I think the SEC, in my opinion, has lost sight of their mission to protect investors. And the question is, who are they protecting in this journey?” The SEC has been pursuing Ripple for allegedly conducting a $1.3 billion securities fraud through the sale of XRP to retail investors without registering the ongoing offer and sale of billions of XRP tokens. In a pivotal victory for Ripple, a judge ruled in July that XRP is not a security. Subsequently, the SEC dropped its securities law violation charges against Garlinghouse and another Ripple executive, Chris Larsen. Now, the focus has shifted to the remedies discovery process, with the SEC having 90 days to conduct remedies-related discovery. Garlinghouse sees this as a positive step for the industry and hopes that it will pave the way for a thriving crypto industry in the United States. He also expressed his desire for crypto regulation to move beyond constant litigation to a system where federal laws governing digital currencies are introduced by Congress. In addition, he referenced Grayscale’s victory in the United States regarding the bitcoin ETF, highlighting the role of the SEC in the expansion of the crypto industry. Ripple is a payments company that leverages XRP to facilitate cross-border money transfers on the blockchain. The XRP token acts as a bridge currency between fiat currencies. While Ripple sees XRP as part of its business model, it has raised concerns among regulators and investors. The ongoing legal battle between Ripple and the SEC has sparked debates about the classification of XRP and the implications it holds for the crypto industry.
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