In his speech at the University of Kansas Business School, Chief Executive Officer Ripple Brad Garlinghouse revealed that the company had considered closure in its legal struggle with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and had distributed its XRP holdings to shareholders. He indicated that this option could have been simpler, but that closing the company would have led to the loss of hundreds of jobs.
Legal background
Garlinghouse mentioned that Ripple was sued by SEC in 2020 for selling XRP as an unregistered security. He recalled that he had had four meetings with SEC officials between 2017 and 2019, but had never been informed that XRP might be regarded as securities, which led him to believe that the company had not obtained clear rules.
Final Victory and Reconciliation
Ultimately, Ripple won by Judge Analisa Torres ' decision that XRP was not a security in itself. After four years of legal struggle, Ripple ' s legal costs amounted to $150 million. In May last year, following the appointment of a new SEC leadership by the Trump Government, the two sides reached a settlement and the SEC adopted a more liberal approach to encrypted currency.