Ripple Has no Plans of Settling With SEC regarding XRP

Ripple Labs is currently engaged in a lawsuit with the US watchdog, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). According to the company’s legal team, they have absolutely no intention of settling with the US securities watchdog. As a matter of fact, they appear to be confident that Gary Gensler, the Chairman of the SEC, would realize that pursuing the case would be the detriment of innovation, as it would be like picking winning and losers in the crypto space. Charles Gasparino tweeted on Friday that Ripple will not settle with the SEC regarding the matter of its XRP cryptocurrency. 

A suit had been filed by the SEC against Ripple Labs, as well as Brad Garlinghouse, the company’s chief executive, along with Chris Larsen, the co-founder, back in December of 2020 due to the sale of XRP. Garlinghouse had been questioned in January about why Ripple was not settling with the SEC. He responded that while he couldn’t provide specifics, they had tried doing so and will continue to do the same with the new administration for resolving the matter in such a way to allow the XRP community to continue innovating, preserve orderly markets and protect consumers.

Supporters of Ripple and XRP are hoping that the new chairman of the SEC would throw out this lawsuit. Gary Gensler had been teaching cryptocurrency at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). They believe that the former Chairman of the SEC, Jay Clayton, had a conflict of interest. A government watchdog had initiated an investigation in August surrounding the circumstances of the XRP lawsuit, which involved then SEC chairman Jay Clayton as well as William Hinman, a senior SEC official. Gensler, on the other hand, has indicated that he recognizes innovation. Last week, in a Senate Banking Committee hearing, he had said as much. 

Cynthia Lummis, the pro-Bitcoin senator, had questioned him about his support for responsible innovation and he had agreed to it. In fact, he said that it was this innovation that brought light and the ability to have a hybrid hearing with other members. He elaborated that it was an innovation that supports economic activity, access and also provides us with better opportunities as a whole. It is also important to note that the SEC chairman also talked about Satoshi Nakamoto, the mysterious founder of Bitcoin, the world’s first cryptocurrency. He said that his innovation was very much real.

He said that it was Nakamoto’s innovation that spurred the development of crypto-assets and also brought about the launch of the underlying blockchain technology. Gensler said that this technology was and would continue to be a catalyst in a number of fields, including money and finance. Considering his understanding of the crypto market and the positive stance that he has apparently taken in regard to cryptocurrencies, there is a good chance that he could do away with the lawsuit against Ripple and its team. The SEC considers XRP to be a security, whereas it is declared by cryptocurrency by the company itself.