Ripple's Tussle With SEC to Cost the Firm $200M, CEO Garlinghouse Says: Report
The U.S. puts politics ahead of policy, Brad Garlinghouse has said at the 2023 Dubai Fintech Summit.
May 8, 2023 at 12:08 p.m. UTC
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Blockchain company Ripple's legal battle with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is set to cost the firm around $200 million, Cointelegraph reported Monday, citing the Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse.
Garlinghouse reportedly told onlookers at the Dubai Fintech Summit that he would not advise crypto entrepreneurs to set up in the U.S., adding that the country puts politics ahead of policy.
Ripple, along with several of its executives, was sued by the securities regulator in 2020 over the unregistered sale of XRP tokens worth around $1.3 billion. The same year, the firm opened its regional headquarters in Dubai.
Since the collapse of crypto exchange FTX last year, the SEC has cracked down on some of the biggest players in the industry over violations of federal securities laws – although it recently pulled back from officially defining "digital assets."
Ripple has historically kept its distance from XRP, which powers some of Ripple’s products.
A judgement on the SEC case is expected in the next three to six weeks, according to the report. Hopes that the lawsuit would go in Ripple's favor caused the XRP token price to surge in March.
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Sandali Handagama is CoinDesk's deputy managing editor for policy and regulations, EMEA. She does not own any crypto.