The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission’s lawsuit against Ripple continues to unfold with no possibility of reaching a settlement. The lawsuit alleges that Ripple alongside CEO Brad Garlinghouse and Chairman Chris Larsen raked in millions in profit from aiding and abetting illegal XRP sales.
Prominent crypto-oriented firms have distanced themselves from the embattled blockchain payments firm and its cryptocurrency. Cryptocurrency exchanges like Binance US, Bitstamp, Kraken, and Coinbase paused trading for XRP on their platforms while digital asset manager Grayscale terminated its XRP Trust. What’s worse, money transfer giant MoneyGram ended its multi-year long partnership with Ripple.
But Ripple has a contingency plan for dealing with a defeat in the SEC lawsuit. Unfortunately, this plan could entail moving forward without XRP.
Ripple Would Continue to Operate With Or Without XRP
Speaking with CNN’s Julia Chatterley, Garlinghouse reiterated that the SEC lawsuit is an attack on the entire crypto industry rather than on just Ripple. But, he is optimistic that they will prevail against the agency. However, in case they lose the case, Ripple will continue to sign customers and grow its business outside the United States.
When quizzed on whether Ripple could consider using alternatives or just being operable with alternatives if the SEC declares XRP a security, Garlinghouse said “that certainly could be part of the solution”, adding:
“I think there is a certain strangeness that the SEC has kind of picked winners here; it said that Bitcoin is not a security, it said that Ether is not a security, but really everything else, I think, is kind of at risk. Particularly, given what they have done in the lawsuit against Ripple. But, you know, we could do that.”
Ripple and its executives were sued by the SEC in December 2020 for allegedly conducting a $1.3 billion illegal XRP sale. The agency claims that Garlinghouse personally accrued over $100 million from the sales. The distributed ledger firm as well as the top executives have repeatedly pushed back against the SEC allegations and vowed to fight the case.
In his interview with Chatterley, the Ripple chief said he hopes the court case will set the record straight about the SEC claims in the suit.
“I’m really looking forward to the facts coming out in the court case. You know, this is something that I haven’t commented on publicly because the wheels of justice kind of move slowly. I think it’s important that we get the facts out. We heard one side of the story from the SEC.”
Garlinghouse further asserted that Ripple and himself “have been more transparent than anyone” in the cryptosphere. In other words, they have nothing to hide regarding all their activities.
Ripple’s Asia Expansion Unaffected By SEC Charges
Despite being in the middle of the SEC suit, it seems to be business as usual for Ripple’s activities in Asia.
Indeed, Ripple recently acquired a 40% stake in Asia-based cross-border payments firm Tranglo. Ripple said this investment is intended to expand its On-Demand Liquidity (ODL) service and smoothen the payments ecosystem in Southeast Asia.
XRPUSD Chart By TradingView
XRP is trading at $0.5925 at press time after rallying 4.20% in the last 24 hours.
