The chief executive of Ripple Labs, Brad Garlinghouse, talked about the company’s lawsuit with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) in the United States. The legal battle has been ongoing since December 2020 and the SEC had filed a case against the company and its executives for selling their XRP token without registering it as a security. Garlinghouse said that if the company does not come through as a victor in its lawsuit, it will leave the United States.
Ripple will not stay in the US
In December 2020, the Securities and Exchange Commission filed a lawsuit against Ripple Labs for securing funding worth $1.3 billion through the sale of unregistered securities. The legal battle has been ongoing for over a year and a half and there has not been a conclusion as yet. The CEO of the company recently announced that it would shut down its operations in the United States if it does not secure a win in the case.
Garlinghouse made the announcement of their intention to leave the US in an interview. He also added that the loss of the company would not have an impact on the broader crypto market. He said that things would not really change in the crypto industry with how they are going.
Events of the case
The lawsuit has already helped Ripple enjoy some wins in April, a judge had ruled in favor of the company and ordered the federal agency to provide documents. These documents showed that the former director of the SEC, William Hinman, had referred to bitcoin and ether as tokens and had not categorized them as securities.
But, the SEC had put forward the argument that the statements of the former director did not count because he had been biased. It had been found that there was a conflict of interest between the director and the two cryptocurrencies.
Ripple’s boss has insisted that XRP is not a security and is actually a token. He has also stated that its nature is quite similar to that of Bitcoin and Ether. Recently, the chairman of the SEC, Gary Gensler also referred to Bitcoin as a commodity, but he clarified that he only considers BTC as a commodity and not any other cryptocurrencies.
Ripple is gearing for an IPO
The chief executive of Ripple also added that should the company win its case against the SEC, they will conduct an initial public offering (IPO). It appears that the CEO and the firm are gearing up for change, which will depend on how the legal battle turns out.
A couple of days ago, Ripple Labs also announced that it was considering Toronto, Canada as its base for setting up a new office. It is expected that 50 jobs will be offered. There are 300 people that Ripple currently employs in the US and there are 300 additional employees in different parts of the world. Thus, if it does decide to move from the US, it will be able to continue its operations.
