According to Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse, the new court decision constitutes a complete loss for the SEC rather than a breakup success.
Garlinghouse responded to Fox Enterprise journalist Charles Gasparino’s hints about a developing article on probable fines imposed by Ripple to resolve the lost portion of the SEC lawsuit.
The CEO of Ripple argued that the SEC lost on all relevant fronts, as many attorneys have noted, not just Ripple’s. He continued, calling it pitiful for the SEC to attempt to portray the recent decision as some sort of breakup success.
The SEC filed a lawsuit against Ripple Labs in December 2020, stating that the sale of XRP constituted an unregistered security offering. Determining whether XRP was a safety was therefore the main issue in the case.
Garlinghouse emphasizes this point by arguing that the case was more about proving that XRP was not a security than it was about paying fines or penalties. In this aspect, he claims that Ripple won and the SEC lost. so, emphasizing the SEC’s complete defeat.
XRP “isn’t a safety,” according to a federal court ruling made public on Thursday. This decision covers sales made by CEOs or on exchanges as well as other XRP distributions to developers, nonprofits, and employees.
Ripple and many others in the cryptocurrency market viewed this decision as a major victory. The Court determined that the only thing that counts as a funding contract is earlier direct XRP sales to institutional buyers totaling $729 million.
Following reports of a split decision in the Ripple case, Paul Grewal, the chief authorized officer of Coinbase, notes a misconception over the judge’s decision: “Do not be fooled into thinking that XRP is always a safety when, in fact, it rarely is,” Choose Torres dominated. The exact opposite of what she ruled is true: “XRP itself is rarely a safety.”
To demonstrate the error in this premise, Grewal quotes a line from the judgement: “XRP, as a digital token, isn’t in and of itself a contract, transaction, or scheme that embodies the Howey necessities of a funding contract.”
After the recent decision, Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse told Fox Enterprise reporter Charles Gasparino that he would be interested in talking about the topic. He stated that the ultimate decision about whether or not to impose any penalties will be made by the Court, not the SEC.
