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Brad Garlinghouse

Ripple CEO Calms Market Fear, Says “No Disruption” Due To SVB

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In a bid to soothe crypto market fear over SVB’s failure, Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse has taken to Twitter to clarify the firm’s financial position in the aftermath of the event.

Ripple has some exposure to Silicon Valley Bank [SVB] as a banking partner in the form of a small cash balance, he tweeted.

The firm’s regular operations have not been affected by the bank’s failure, reassuring clients that the majority of its reserves are spread throughout a larger network of bank partners.

Although Garlinghouse did not specify the amount of cash the company had in SVB, he reiterated that the firm is in a strong financial position.

Obviously, a lot is still unknown about what happens with SVB, and as is the case with many others, we hope to have more details soon – but rest assured, Ripple remains in a strong financial position.

Two days after authorities shut down Silicon Valley Bank in a collapse that left billions in savings unclaimed, state regulators on March 12th dissolved New York-based Signature Bank, the third-largest failure in US banking history.

As of now, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation [FDIC] took the reins of Signature, according to New York state’s Department of Financial Services.

Following the incident, the Federal Reserve set up a funding program of $25 billion to assist banks with liquidity during times of financial stress. 

The Federal Reserve also noted that all depositors of Silicon Valley Bank will have access to all of their money starting Monday, Mar. 13. 

Signature’s failure following Silicon Valley Bank’s last week shutdown was reminiscent of the collapse of Washington Mutual, during the 2008 financial crisis.

Signature along with Silvergate were the two main banks for crypto entities, while Silicon Valley Bank had a lot of crypto startups and VCs as customers.

Ripple CTO Says, Firm Would Come Out With Exposure Details Soon

The failure of the crypto banking trifecta has sent shockwaves, especially into the stablecoin market over the weekend.

Recently, Ripple chief technology officer David Schwartz informed that the firm would publish a statement on its Ripple exposure “shortly”.

At the time of writing this article, the price of the Ripple-backed token XRP is exchanging hands at $0.38, rising against the market tides by nearly 2% in the last 24 hours. The 6th ranked token has a market cap of over $18 billion.

Here’s What Ripple Chief Legal Officer Has To Say About Victory

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Stuart Alderoty, the chief legal officer of Ripple, tweeted Wednesday that the business will prevail in its continuing legal battle with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Alderoty posted a summary of the court’s most recent opinion, which also includes decisions on the planned expert reports from each party. According to Alderoty, the SEC’s expert on “reasonable expectations of an XRP purchase” and its expert who asserted to know what “caused” the price of the contentious coin to move were both rejected by the court in its ruling. Nonetheless, Ripple’s specialists, who offer testimony regarding the firm’s contracts, tax situation, accounting situation, and currency, were permitted to remain on the premises.

Alderoty continued by saying that Ripple has always felt strong in its position and that this confidence only increases with each verdict.

Ripple CEO Believes Us Crypto Industry Needs To Rebuild Trust

On March 7, Garlinghouse stated in a tweet that the industry must advance collectively and that this can only be done via utility and transparency. He gave the examples of FTX and Terra as businesses that destroyed confidence in cryptocurrencies.

Garlinghouse also noted that the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has declared war on cryptocurrency, which is posing serious challenges for the sector. He slammed Gary Gensler, the chair of the SEC, for urging companies to register, claiming that there is no infrastructure in place for “registered tokens” to trade and that it is unclear what these tokens are.

The CEO of Ripple urged regulators to adequately oversee the sector, noting that several other G20 nations have already established frameworks and guidelines. He used the markets in crypto-assets (MiCA) rules adopted by the EU as an illustration of what the US could do.

In a recent interview with Bloomberg, Garlinghouse said that he anticipates the SEC’s XRP case would be resolved this year. The CEO of Ripple attacked the SEC’s approach to cryptocurrency regulation and stressed the significance of the action, which could have profound effects on the whole cryptocurrency industry.

However, he said that the lawsuit was actually about how the SEC was assaulting the entire sector rather than Ripple or XRP. The verdict in the lawsuit will have a major impact on the entire sector and set the stage for how cryptocurrency will be regulated in the United States.

Ripple CEO Tells Why SEC’s Regulation Through Enforcement Is Flawed

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Brad Garlinghouse, CEO of Ripple, believes that the SEC’s focus on crypto enforcement is quite constrained. The top executive criticized the regulator for acting like “a hammer where everyone is a nail” in an interview with Bloomberg.

The comments come as the SEC is stepping up its enforcement efforts against crypto’s leading industry players, one of which also involved the blockchain payment company, Ripple.

The SEC filed a complaint against Ripple towards the end of 2020, accusing it of selling the XRP token as an unregistered security. Whatever the outcome of that case, which is still pending in federal court, the industry will undoubtedly be affected.

Garlinghouse believes that the long-drawn battle would finally have a resolution by this year.

“It’s been almost two and a half years since that litigation began. We’ve tried to move forward as quickly as we possibly could,” Garlinghouse said. “The litigation was fully briefed in front of federal court, and we do expect a decision certainly in 2023.”

The top executive reflected on how, initially, few people had come forward to help Ripple in its battle, but that had changed over the last two years.

I think people have come to realize that the SEC bringing the case against Ripple was not really the case about Ripple or about XRP. It was really about how the SEC was playing offense and attacking the whole industry.

Garlinghouse said that it is paramount to be thoughtful and set things right, given that the lawsuit’s outcome would be pivotal for the whole industry and could have a far-reaching impact.

He then came down hard on the agency and termed the latter’s stance as “not healthy”.

Ripple CEO Says Crypto Innovation Is Moving Away From US

The CEO of Ripple also said new innovations in the past were frequently viewed with mistrust. He used the late 1990s as an example when some critics demanded that the internet be banned because of its supposed illegal purposes.

Yet, he argued that at the time, the government established a regulatory structure that allowed investors and businesspeople to establish headquarters in the country, which benefited the U.S. geopolitically.

On the other side, he claims that the SEC’s measures targeting the crypto and blockchain enterprises have led to many of them moving offshore, which would hinder innovation in the nation.

Ripple CEO Hails Regulatory Efforts Outside The U.S.

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CEO of blockchain payment firm Ripple Brad Garlinghouse heaped praise on the regulatory developments happening outside the United States.

Garlinghouse in his series of tweets stated that the positive changes in the last few weeks, from nations across the globe, are “energizing”.

He then cited examples of nations like Dubai, Australia, the UK, South Korea, and Brazil whose governments, as per him, have undertaken steps to bring better licensing and custody for crypto and bolster consumer protection.

Garlinghouse took a shot at US regulators commenting,

….these regulators are providing leadership and doing the work that we are desperately missing in the US – unsurprisingly, this is where companies like Ripple are growing!

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Ripple CEO Hails Regulatory Efforts Outside The U.S. 2

The tweet was in context to the recent developments surrounding Kraken‘s settlement with the US regulator SEC, ending its staking program and agreeing to pay $30 million in disgorgement, prejudgment interest, and civil penalties.

The developments have sparked concerns among crypto-industry participants that a charge brought by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission against crypto exchange Kraken may lead to a blanket ban on digital-asset staking.

Several leading crypto exchanges, like Binance and Coinbase, offer staking services, where they provide custody of users’ cryptocurrencies and stake them.

Additionally, decentralized staking service providers, such as Lido Finance, also allow users to safeguard their own cryptocurrencies while participating in staking. 

Ripple Lawsuit Against The SEC Will Seal XRP’s Fate

Market participants are awaiting more regulatory moves because it is unknown if the SEC will merely target centralized staking service providers like Kraken or outlaw staking altogether in the United States.

Others that have confronted the SEC head-on, like Ripple, have consistently challenged the SEC’s stance on cryptocurrencies.

Since 2020, the San Francisco-based payment firm and the organization have been embroiled in a contentious legal battle over the alleged sale of XRP coins.

Ripple refutes the charge and maintains that XRP is used in its business to allow international transactions between banks and other financial institutions and should not be viewed as an investment contract.

Last December, Ripple and the SEC submitted their final round of briefs seeking a summary judgment to the case, respectively accusing each other of breaching the law.

The judge is likely to make a ruling in favor of either side, avoiding a trial, or putting the matter before a jury.

XRP Scam Hit A U.S Sports Channel

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XRP scam has raised its ugly head once again, this time invading the official Twitter account of GOL TV, a U.S based TV sports channel.

Scams masquerading as XRP or Ripple-affiliated entities have become a nuisance on social media offering lucrative investment opportunities that are not backed by legitimate contracts or regulatory oversight.

This time too, the scammers exploited the image of Ripple founder Brad Garlinghouse to trick users into clicking dubious links by posting too good-to-be-true easy investment schemes.

Victims who take the bait find themselves with no recovered capital and no way to recoup their lost funds.

In order to do fraudulent activities that target XRP holders, these bad actors use a variety of strategies, including false accounts, public sentiment manipulation, misrepresenting credentials, multi-level marketing scams, complex phishing networks, and more advanced techniques.

Even if these techniques are not new, unaware victims can still be taken advantage of and suffer the consequences before it is too late.

One needs to exercise restraint and look for reliable sources before investing any money or sending money in order to avoid falling for any more of these scams in the future.

That being said, XRP is in the limelight as the legal tussle with the SEC is heading toward a decisive end, with many believing that its major backer Ripple would emerge as a victory.

Brad Garlinghouse, the chief executive of blockchain firm Ripple, recently expressed optimism about the token and revealed his expectations for the resolution of the legal dispute between Ripple and the SEC in Davos.

Shortly after his statement, multiple sizable transactions of XRP have been detected, including one that might be deemed “big”, data from the top cryptocurrency tracking service Whale Alert revealed.

Massive XRP Transactions After Ripple CEO’s Statement

The aforementioned cryptocurrency tracker discovered four significant transactions, one of which had a staggering 261,094,839 XRP, valued at $102 million.

In accordance with information released by community explorer Bithomp, this enormous lump was transferred between two anonymous wallets without any indication of addresses associated with any crypto exchange.

The rest of the transfers carried 34,700,000 XRP by Bitso crypto exchange.

It is a unicorn based in Mexico and one of Ripple’s major On-Demand Liquidity [ODL] partners, moved 34,700,000 XRP internally as it has often been doing recently, as it is actively spreading the usage of OLD in Latin America.

The other two lumps of the tokens were shoveled by whales from Bittrex exchange to Bitstamp and Bitso.

Ripple CEO Explains Why 2023 Will Be Crypto’s Breakthrough Year

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Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse is hoping that the year 2023 will witness a “breakthrough” in regulatory clarity for the cryptocurrency industry in the US.

Sharing his thoughts on the onset of the 118th Congress, Garlinghouse in the Tweet thread stated he’s “cautiously optimistic” as support for regulation is “bipartisan & bicameral.”

He cited the names of leading politicians who have publicly supported blockchain and recognized the need for clarity.

Garlinghouse believes although no bill is perfect or can satiate everyone, he, however, acknowledged the significance of earlier bills that have attempted to address the issues surrounding the digital asset industry.

According to the Ripple CEO, these proposals have provided more than a starting point for debate in this new Congress.

Next, he pointed out how the U.S. is languishing behind Singapore, the European Union, Brazil, and Japan when it comes to crypto legislation and regulations.

He asserted that the absence of a concerted effort to establish a regulatory framework both internationally and in the United States “continues to push business to countries [with] lower regulatory bars,” with “sometimes catastrophic results,” such as the collapse of FTX, which has its headquarters in the Bahamas.

Besides being known as a fintech powerhouse, Garlinghouse’s Ripple also manages the global payment network RippleNet and the XRP cryptocurrency.

Meanwhile, the crypto community is anticipating a positive verdict in the Securities and Exchange Commission [SEC] v. Ripple lawsuit, which has entered its third year.

Ripple v. SEC. is one of the most closely watched cases in the cryptocurrency industry. In essence, the SEC claimed that Ripple raised more than $1.3 billion by selling unregistered securities in the form of XRP currency.

Ripple Community In Favor Of A Settlement

Since both parties have delivered their closing arguments, the community is presently anticipating the day of the verdict. A survey on possible case outcomes was conducted by pro-XRP lawyer John Deaton prior to the verdict.

In a poll taken on December 28 and receiving close to 18,000 responses, 59.2% of participants thought the dispute would be resolved amicably, while 40.8% preferred a jury verdict.

Deaton, however, voted in favor of the minority opinion, suggesting that the trial will continue.

Uncertainty exists regarding when the lawsuit will be resolved. If the Ripple v. SEC litigation does not achieve an out-of-court settlement by March 31, according to lawyer James K. Filan, who has been following the case, a ruling will be made.

Ripple CTO Sees Light At End Of Tunnel Despite Warren’s Crypto Warning

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David Schwartz, CTO of Ripple, reluctantly concurs with Senator Elizabeth Warren’s warning about cryptocurrency. In terms of regulating cryptocurrencies, he thinks the Massachusetts senator might actually be on to something.

Warren worries that if there is no adequate oversight, cryptocurrency might end up bringing down the economy in recent op-ed published by The Wall Street Journal.

The senator admits that cryptocurrencies may eventually lead to a more inclusive financial system, but she also emphasizes the fact that history is “littered” with a variety of dubious financial schemes that were promoted by “criminals and charlatans.”

The Justice Department should employ its “full range of resources,” according to Warren, because cryptocurrency executives who violate the law are no different from those who use other platforms.

The legislator continued by saying that the US Securities and Exchange Commission also needed to “suit up.” Warren also criticized cryptocurrency mining companies for putting a load on the electrical infrastructure and raising greenhouse gas emissions.

She has emphasized that cryptocurrency must adhere to the same regulations as traditional financial industries.

Schwarz from Ripple says that given Warren’s recognition of the significance of reforming cryptocurrency law, this is not “an bad position to work with.” This, he continues, is crucial for establishing proper crypto rules.

Ripple Looking To Consider Deals For FTX Assets

The demise of the reputable exchange FTX has continued to have a negative impact on the cryptocurrency economy. Many organisations have expressed interest in helping Sam Bankman-failing Fried’s company from the outset. Binance first considered throwing a life jacket but eventually changed his mind. At about the same time, Justin Sun of Tron asserted that he was developing a plan with FTX to “initiate a pathway ahead.”

However, as of late, the blockchain payment giant Ripple has expressed interest in purchasing some of the assets of the struggling cryptocurrency exchange FTX.

The Sunday Times reported that former FTX CEO Bankman-Fried called Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse two days before the company declared bankruptcy in an effort to gather investors to save it. The two then talked about if there were any FTX-owned companies that Ripple “would want to own.”

Garlinghouse further stated,

“Part of my conversation [with SBF] was if he needs liquidity, maybe there are businesses that he has bought or he has that we would want to own. Maybe there’s investments that we would want own. Would we have bought some of those from him? I definitely think that was on the table.”

Ripple CEO Angry Over SEC’s Disregard For Investors

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Ripple’s Chief Executive Officer Brad Garlinghouse expressed shock as the legal dispute has developed and believed that the SEC’s objective isn’t about “a faithful allegiance to the law”. It’s about power under the garb of interest protection, he alleged.

There is no regard for those companies and people that this approach has harmed. We all should be outraged. The SEC has clearly forgotten that the government works for the people.

Garlinghouse also brings light to the agency’s glaring disregard for the people and businesses that have been harmed by the agency’s strategy. The SEC charged Ripple and its top executives with selling unregistered securities in a 2020 lawsuit.

Last week, during DC Fintech Week, event, the CEO said he expects the court to rule on the lawsuit in the first half of 2023.

“I think we’ll have an answer in the first half of next year. Whether that’s the first quarter or second quarter, we shall see,” he said. 

SEC filed a formal lawsuit against Ripple in December 2020 for allegedly breaking securities laws. According to the regulator, between 2013 and 2020, the blockchain firm and two of its executives raised $1.3 billion by selling unregistered securities to foreign investors through the sale of XRP tokens.

Ripple and the entire crypto industry were taken aback by the SEC lawsuit because there had been no indication that the watchdog was keeping an eye on the business.

Ripple CEO- SEC’s Decision Will Only Benefit China

The SEC regulations, according to Ripple, were not broken because XRP is not a security. Garlinghouse asserted following the lawsuit that his business was specifically chosen for close examination.

The regulator “should not be able to cherry-pick what innovation looks like (especially when their decision directly benefits China),” Garlinghouse continued.

A motion to access internal records, including emails and drafts, pertaining to a 2018 speech by former SEC executive William Hinman was granted by Ripple last month.

Because the commissioner believed that Ether, like Bitcoin, is not a security, Hinman made comments about Ether’s legal status in the documents that the Commission wished to keep private.

The SEC lawsuit is an assault on the cryptocurrency industry, and the outcome will determine the future of the sector, the Ripple CEO emphasized once more.

Ripple CEO Caught Up In A Major CryptoLeaks Scandal

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Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse found itself in the latest pile of allegations levied by crypto whistleblower Crypto Leaks that he agreed to the proposal of becoming Kyle Roche’s angel investor in suing crypto competitors.

This, as per the documents, was meant to draw away regulators’ attention.

Denying the rumors Garlinghouse tweeted,

“Can’t comment on the validity of the slew of allegations in here, but I can unequivocally say that I have never met or spoken to (much less invested in) Kyle Roche.” 

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Crypto Twitter was rocked by allegations of a deep-rooted conspiracy from a Crypto Leaks report on Aug 26. As per the videos that the whistleblower uploaded on Friday, Emin Gün Sirer and Kevin Sekniqi, the respective CEO and COO of Ava Labs had inked a “secret deal” with American law firm Roche Freedman to “target and ruin crypto organizations.”

According to CryptoLeaks, Roche Freedman and Kyle Roche have a “special” agreement to provide legal services to Ava Labs in exchange for AVAX tokens and a major stake in the firm.

They also allegedly planned to use “litigation as a tool” to stamp out rivals and mislead regulators like the Security Exchange Commission [SEC] and Commodity Futures Trading Commission [CFTC].

In one video Roche said that he would “makes sure that the SEC and CFTC have other magnets [Avalanche competitors] to go after”.

Ava Labs CEO Emin Gün Sirer fired back terming the accusations as “conspiracy theory gibberish” and stated that they would never engage in these “self-serving videos and inflammatory articles”

Binance’s Changpeng Zhao a.k.a CZ too chimed by describing the allegations as “wild,” and wondered if the videos were deep fakes. The tweet has since been deleted.

Another Trouble Heading for Ripple?

Interestingly BinanceUS was sued by Roche Freedman recently for the Terra blowup. But Crypto Leaks alleged that this was done under the directive of Ava Labs. 

On the other hand, Ripple’s Garlinghouse remains embroiled in the long-drawn legal battle with the SEC. In the latest hearing, the blockchain firm received a minor relief after the regulator didn’t object to Ripple’s pursuit of protection for non-parties appearing in the Daubert challenge motions.

However, the latest development might signal trouble for the firm.

XRP as a security is a no-go; Settlement with SEC out of the picture, Garlinghouse affirms

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The entire world witnessed the Ripple vs. SEC case where the financial watchdog proceeded to label XRP as a security, while Ripple tried to shun off these accusations. As this lawsuit persists, both the parties have time and again been asked if there were any chances of a settlement. The SEC as well as Ripple have outrightly suggested there were no possibilities of a settlement.

More recently, Ripple’s Brad Garlinghouse appeared in an interview with Fox Business’s Charles Gasparino and clarified that settlement wouldn’t be possible if the SEC continued to deem XRP as a security.

While 2021 started out as a great year for almost all the crypto assets in the market, XRP was the only one to suffer the wrath of the Securities and Exchange Commission [SEC] of the United States. The regulator went on to categorize XRP as a security and accused Ripple of selling “unregistered securities.” This caused immense loss to the asset as it was ousted by prominent crypto exchanges.

Despite garnering the support of regulators from across the globe, Ripple failed to convince the SEC. This battle appears to go on for a long time. While Garlinghouse did not mind settling, deeming XRP a security would certainly dement the chances of a settlement.

XRP ETF in the making?

Steering away from the Ripple vs. SEC case, Garlinghouse was asked about the chances of an XRP exchange-traded fund [ETF] in the US. The approval of the ProShares Bitcoin ETF got the hopes up high of many firms.

Addressing the same, Garlinghouse put forth a question of why a government entity was filtering or picking winners and losers.

“Why is the SEC picking winners and losers?”

Furthermore, Garlinghouse called out Gary Gensler, the chairman of the SEC for staying mum on Ether. While noting how the SEC has been consistently asking for clarity pertaining to everything crypto-related, Garlinghouse pointed out that it was rather “ironic” for the SEC to keep its lips sealed about Ether.

The citizens of the US had to wait long and hard to garner a Bitcoin ETF. Several speculate that an altcoin ETF in the US was still a far-fetched thought.