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Ripple faces a SEC lawsuit for breaking investor-protection laws when selling XRP

Dec 23, 2020, 00:54 IST
Business Insider
Jack Taylor/Getty Images

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  • Ripple plans to defend itself against an expected SEC lawsuit over allegedly breaking investor-protection laws while selling the cryptocurrency, XRP.
  • In a series of tweets, Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse blasted the SEC's decision to sue his firm right before the holidays.
  • "Ripple has and will continue to use XRP because it is the best digital asset for payments - speed, cost, scalability and energy efficiency," he said.
  • The lawsuit would come after years of debate about whether XRP is a security, or a cryptocurrency outside regulatory scope.

Cryptocurrency firm Ripple is facing a lawsuit by the Securities and Exchange Commission for allegedly violating investor-protection laws by selling the XRP digital asset, a security the regulator considers as unlicensed.

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Ripple's CEO Brad Garlinghouse tweeted that the SEC is unjustifiably attacking crypto and blasted chairman Jay Clayton's decision to sue his firm right before the holidays.

"Jay Clayton is taking notes from the Grinch this holiday season, leaving the actual legal work to the next administration," Garlinghouse said, referring to the chairman's departure at the end of Trump's presidential tenure.

The lawsuit hasn't been filed yet, but Ripple is aware of the regulator's impending action. The fact that the crypto firm disclosed that it's about to be sued is uncommon, highlighting its intention to defend itself against legal action.

"We know crypto and blockchain technologies aren't going anywhere," Garlinghouse said. "Ripple has and will continue to use XRP because it is the best digital asset for payments - speed, cost, scalability and energy efficiency. It's traded on 200+ exchanges globally and will continue to thrive."

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Garlinghouse went on to say that the regulator isn't in line with the rest of the US government, and shouldn't limit innovation especially if its decision "directly benefits China."

Over the past years, the SEC has filed, and mostly won, civil lawsuits against startups that breached securities laws when raising money via cryptocurrency sales. But none of those firms are as big as Ripple. XRP's current market cap stands at about $22 billion, and it is the third-largest cryptocurrency after Bitcoin and Ethereum, according to data from Coin Gecko.

The lawsuit would come after years of debate between both sides about whether XRP is a security, or a currency that exists beyond the SEC's scope of regulation.

The SEC did not immediately respond to Business Insider's request for comment.

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