Ripple v. SEC case update as of September 15, 2023

As the long-running legal dispute between Ripple and the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is yet to receive its official conclusion, the blockchain company’s CEO has commented on the case and its effects.

Specifically, Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse said that Ripple had already spent well over $100 million in legal fees but that he was optimistic about winning, as he told Bloomberg’s Annabelle Droulers in an interview on the sidelines of Asia’s biggest cryptocurrency event, TOKEN2029, published on September 13.

Looking elsewhere for hires

As he explained, the regulatory issues in the US have led Ripple to look for its workforce elsewhere. Specifically, the company plans to carry out more than 80% of its hiring this year outside the US, in crypto-friendlier jurisdictions such as Singapore, Hong Kong, Dubai, and the United Kingdom.

According to Garlinghouse, these are the places “where the governments are partnering with the industry, and you’re seeing leadership, defining clear rules, and you’re seeing growth,” which is why the company considers them a better choice for sourcing new hires.

Hammer and nail

Commenting on the Senate hearing of the SEC boss Gary Gensler from September 12, in which he doubled down on the crypto industry, stating that he had never seen a field “so rife with misconduct” and that it was “daunting,” the Ripple SEC criticized his testimony, arguing that:

“One of the definitions of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and thinking you’re getting a different outcome. Gary Gensler’s a hammer, and everything looks like a nail. Just saying that people need to register does not mean that the law says that these are securities.”

At the same time, two SEC commissioners, Hester Peirce and Mark Uyeda, have released a statement in which they voiced their disagreement with the Commission’s action against the developers of the non-fungible token ($NFT) collection called Stoner Cats, comparing NFTs to Star Wars collectibles and highlighting the need to protect artists’ ability to create.

Meanwhile, the XRP token, which is at the center of the protracted legal saga, was at press time changing hands at the price of $0.495, which is an increase of 2.65% in the last 24 hours but still a 1.72% decline across the previous seven days, and a loss of 17.83% on its monthly chart, as per data on September 15.