During DC Fintech Week 2023, Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse declared the company’s intention to escalate its case against the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to the Supreme Court. Garlinghouse revealed that Ripple had been offered an out-of-court settlement but chose not to accept.
Expressing confidence in Ripple’s position, Garlinghouse remarked, “That feels really good. It feels like…There’s no chance they were going to win that. Pushing that the way they did, it just feels like the SEC should be part of the solution.”
Despite the initial settlement offer being withdrawn, Garlinghouse views this as a positive development, indicating that Ripple holds a favorable position in the ongoing legal dispute over XRP’s classification as a security.
As XRP surpassed $0.69, the token recorded a double-digit gain in November, marking a 35% increase in price within a month and an impressive 80% surge since the beginning of the year.
The SEC filed a lawsuit against Ripple in December 2020, accusing the platform of engaging in the illegal trading of securities, specifically XRP tokens. In a July 2023 ruling, Southern District of New York Judge Analisa Torres sided with the crypto project, stating that XRP cannot be deemed a security. However, she noted that institutional sales of tokens might still be considered sales of unregistered securities.
By the end of October, the SEC had opted not to participate in the Ripple case trial, leading to the dismissal of all charges against the site’s management. The legal developments continue to shape the narrative around XRP’s regulatory status and Ripple’s ongoing efforts to defend its position in the cryptocurrency landscape.
