Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse said the company seriously considered shutting down after the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission sued it in 2020. According to Garlinghouse, he and Ripple co-founder Chris Larsen discussed closing the company and distributing their XRP holdings to shareholders rather than continuing the fight.
They ultimately chose to challenge the SEC instead. Garlinghouse said that decision preserved hundreds of jobs, though it came at a steep cost: Ripple spent about $150 million on legal fees over four years.
Ripple later secured a key court win when a federal judge ruled that XRP itself is not a security. The case was settled last year after changes in SEC leadership, with the agency's new leadership taking a looser stance toward cryptocurrencies. The remarks offer a look at how close Ripple came to ending operations during one of the industry's highest-profile legal battles.
Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse said the company seriously considered shutting down after the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission sued it in 2020.
According to Garlinghouse, he and Ripple co-founder Chris Larsen discussed closing the company and distributing their XRP holdings to shareholders. They decided to fight the SEC instead of winding the business down.
Garlinghouse said that choice saved hundreds of jobs, but Ripple spent about $150 million in legal fees over four years. Ripple later won a major ruling when a federal judge found that XRP itself is not a security.
The case was settled last year after a change in SEC leadership. The new leadership has taken a looser stance on cryptocurrency, according to the report.
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