- Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse admits the company should have engaged U.S. regulators earlier
- Ripple is currently fighting legal battles with the SEC over the sale of XRP as an unregistered security
- Garlinghouse criticizes U.S. crypto regulation, calling it lagging behind other countries
Ripple Labs Chief Executive Brad Garlinghouse said his company should have engaged with U.S. regulators years ago, and now the company—and the crypto industry overall—is playing catch-up after the regulators sued.
“In the last couple of years, I’ve made way more trips to Washington than I did in the years prior,” Garlinghouse said in a speech on Oct. 23 at DC Fintech Week.
Of course, now I do. It feels like we’re very late to engage, and now we’re trying to play catch-up. Ripple is one of the U.S. crypto firms in the middle of a legal fight against the SEC, which many U.S. crypto leaders believe is hostile and biased against the industry.
Earlier this year, the SEC won part of its long-running case against Ripple after a judge ruled the XRP token had been sold as an unregistered security to institutional buyers.
However, it ruled that XRP was not a security when sold to retail traders on crypto exchanges—a matter the SEC appealed to a higher court earlier this month, and which Ripple says it intends to challenge.
He told the audience in Washington, DC, that the U.S. was “falling behind” on crypto regulation compared with other countries, while also criticizing the “campaign of terror” that SEC Chairman Gary Gensler had waged against the industry.
He also attacked Senator Elizabeth Warren for “spreading misinformation” about the crypto sector.
Conclusion
In his concluding remarks, there is a reflection of frustration with the U.S. House, which has hindered progress relative to other nations because of regulatory uncertainty.
The real question, though, is whether Ripple—and the entire industry—will ever have a chance to catch up. One thing is already certain: it won’t be possible anymore to avoid engaging with regulators.
