Ripple case nears conclusion, but the fight for clarity must ‘continue’ — Brad Garlinghouse

Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse has warned that as Ripple’s legal battle against the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is coming “to a close,” it is only the beginning of a larger battle for the industry and the fight for regulatory clarity “has to continue.“

After the Hinman Documents were unsealed on June 13 as part of the ongoing lawsuit between Ripple and the SEC, Garlinghouse published a video on Twitter discussing the lawsuit’s timeline and expressing his frustration with the agency.

In the June 17 video, Garlinghouse said the Hinman documents suggest that the SEC “knowingly created confusion about the rules, and they used that confusion through enforcement.”

Trying something new – some thoughts from me on the events (specifically the release of the Hinman documents) of this week. For me, this has all had a personal bent to it – and felt like it warranted some personal comments. pic.twitter.com/k4dYeQGhsN

— Brad Garlinghouse (@bgarlinghouse) June 16, 2023

In his remarks, Garlinghouse strongly criticized the SEC’s actions, describing them as a clear case of “bad faith, plain and simple.“ 

He believes this attitude was present from the very beginning of the lawsuit against Ripple, which was initially filed in December 2020, saying it felt like a “very grinch-like touch” to file the case just “days before Christmas.“

“This is the definition of putting politics over people […] and the pursuit of power over sound policy,” he stated.

Garlinghouse explained that prior to the lawsuit being filed, he answered “every question [the SEC] had” and it was never suggested to him that XRP (XRP) was a security.

He believes that the SEC is “looking to kill” innovation and the cryptocurrency industry in the U.S., arguing that the Hinman speech isn’t about “any one token or any one blockchain,” but more so the overall stance that the SEC has toward the crypto industry.

“This is about showing the extent to which the SEC has relentlessly enforced action against crypto players, while professing fake open arms and calls to come in and register, all the while lying about their so-called guidance.”

Garlinghouse further explained that “at best,” the documents suggest that SEC senior officials “couldn’t agree” on the law and told Bill Hinman directly that “he would confuse the public even more about the rules for crypto.”

On June 13, Cointelegraph reported that notes in the revealed documents suggested the editors were concerned that Hinman stating Ether (ETH) is not a security may make it “difficult for the agency to take a different position on Ether in the future.”

However, Garlinghouse stated that “at worst,” the documents showed that Hinman “deliberately ignored the law” and tried to “create new laws.“

Related: Ripple welcomes MiCA regulation as US lawsuit highlights lack of clarity

He emphasized that the industry must work together as the SEC could take action against more crypto firms in the future.

“Ultimately as our law suit comes to a close, for so many others its just starting, so the fight for clarity has to continue” he stated.

This comes after the SEC filed a lawsuit against crypto exchange Binance on June 5 for allegedly offering unregistered securities. A day later, the regulator took action against Coinbase on similar grounds.

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