The CEO of Ripple, Brad Garlinghouse is filing for a motion to dismiss the SEC lawsuit against himself and Ripple. This is according to a copy of a letter written by Garlinghouse’s lawyer stating that he intends to file a dismissal motion for the case.
The letter claims that the case was nothing but a regulatory overreach as the company’s sale of XRP did not involve any contract and the proceeds were not pooled with other buyers in a common enterprise. Its price also fluctuates in line with other digital assets such as Bitcoin and Ethereum.
“But Mr. Garlinghouse’s XRP sales involved no contract of any kind with the buyers, as his sales were done anonymously over an exchange. Nor were the proceeds of Mr. Garlinghouse’s sales pooled with other buyers in a common enterprise. And XRP’s value historically has not been correlated with Ripple’s actions, results, or public announcements, but instead with changes in the value of other digital assets, such as bitcoin and ether, that the SEC has publicly declared are not securities”, the letter read.
Ripple and its top executives have been in court since the SEC filed a lawsuit against them alleging that they illegally sold a security (XRP) and made profits of over $1 billion. Garlinghouse has however maintained his position that XRP is not a security.
This could be because other countries such as the UK hold XRP in high regard. Garlinghouse had last year indicated his intention to move Ripple headquarters over to the UK before the SEC lawsuit. In early February of this year, the company filed a defense for the suit which has led to a few more lawsuits.
In 2015 and 2020, both the Department of Justice and the Department of Treasury’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (“FinCEN”) declared XRP to be a “virtual currency”. The two departments even asked Ripple to implement anti-laundering in place, a requirement that Ripple claims securities are not expected to meet.
The outcome of Ripple’s case with the SEC could be a big determinant of future regulations in the cryptocurrency industry and the entire space awaits the outcome.
