Ripple has spent USD 200 million defending the case opened against it by the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), according to its CEO, Brad Garlinghouse.
Garlinghouse revealed the figure during an informal chat at the Dubai Fintech Summit on May 8. He claimed that the United States is stagnant compared to the regulatory progress of the UAE’s virtual asset regulatory authority and the recent European Union’s Markets for Crypto Assets (MICA) bill.. He went on to share that by the time the case is decided, Ripple will have spent $200 million defending itself against a lawsuit that, from its inception, doesn’t make much sense.
In a message to SEC Chairman Gary Gensler, Garlinghouse lamented that the US has fallen so far behind with Ripple’s expansion into the United Arab Emirates. According to him, the hardest thing about the situation is having a country that has put politics first. Garlinghouse said that one of the first pieces of advice he gives to entrepreneurs when asked how to start something is: “If I were you, I wouldn’t start in the United States.” He thinks many US-based companies and US public companies would agree.
When asked about the US need for a clear regulatory framework for cryptocurrencies, Garlinghouse said the SEC needs to understand that the vast majority of people working in cryptocurrency and blockchain are good players who want to stay within the rules of the road, and need to have those defined.
Ripple, a cryptocurrency payment platform, was sued by the SEC in December 2020, which alleged that Ripple illegally sold XRP (XRP) tokens as an unregistered security.. Ripple has long disputed the lawsuit, arguing that it does not constitute an investment contract under the Howey test.
The case has dragged on for two and a half years and has created headwinds in the US market. A judge’s decision is expected sometime in the next three to six months, according to Garlinghouse.
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