The SEC has filed a lawsuit against Ripple and two of its officials, alleging that the defendants “raised over $1.3 billion through an unregistered, ongoing digital asset securities offering,” according to comments made by Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse.
Garlinghouse, speaking to CNBC at a fireside chat in Davos, stated that a settlement would be conceivable only if the SEC made clear that $XRP is not a security. According to the CEO, the SEC has “articulated a view that everything crypto is a security” under the leadership of current Chairman Gary Gensler.
As Garlinghouse put it, “the only way we would settle is if there’s clarity that XRP is not a security on a go-forward basis.” He went on to say that the “Veen diagram for settlement is I suppose zero,” indicating that a judicial ruling will be rendered.
According to Ripple’s CEO, a decision on the lawsuit is possible this year and is “certain in 2023.” He went on to say that he couldn’t influence “the exact timing of a judge’s rulings,” but that he expected a decision “within the next few months.”
Garlinghouse argued that the fintech company is fighting for the best interests of the bitcoin sector as a whole. A number of cryptocurrency companies, including Coinbase, the Blockchain Association, and SpendTheBits, have petitioned a federal court for permission to write a friend-of-the-court brief in the ongoing dispute.
According to a report by CryptoGlobe, Jeremy Hogan, an advocate of $XRP and a U.S. legal counsel, has stated that the action brought against Ripple and two of its executives by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission may be settled shortly.
Notably, Hogan has speculated that the settlement of the lawsuit could result in a supply shock for XRP, which would likely cause a price increase because demand would remain constant while supply decreased. When both sides asked for a summary decision, the price of XRP skyrocketed, attracting the attention of the cryptocurrency world.
