Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse recently criticized the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) for misinterpreting the company’s quarterly XRP market reports.
Garlinghouse pointed out that the SEC used these reports against Ripple in the lawsuit, despite the fact that the company was never required to publish them. Nevertheless, they started doing so to provide transparency about their XRP holdings.
“We began these reports voluntarily to provide updates on our XRP holdings. Unfortunately, they were used against us in the SEC lawsuit. However, we remain committed to transparency, though I expect they will look different going forward.”
Garlinghouse’s statements were supported by Ripple’s attorney, John E Deaton, who explained on Twitter that the reports were published for transparency and not out of obligation, as Ripple, being a private company, was not required to share them.
“It is absolutely true that the SEC used the transparency of these reports against Ripple and its two executives. As a private company, Ripple was under no obligation to share this info. Other companies not only didn’t share token sales, but intentionally disguised those transactions.”
The SEC used Ripple’s report against them
The SEC attempted to use the information from Ripple’s XRP report against the company during the lawsuit, making allegations of fraud and market manipulation. This is despite the fact that the transparency of the reports was precisely intended to prove the opposite.
In the latest report for the second quarter of 2023, Ripple announced that it would change the format of the reports to focus on clarifying misunderstandings and providing transparency about its XRP holdings.
For example, Ripple highlighted that most of the monthly releases of XRP from the escrow account will be redeposited to be accessed in the future rather than being sold on the open market. However, Garlinghouse clarified that they may change the focus of the reports due to the SEC’s recent actions.
The SEC vs. Ripple case is still ongoing
On July 13, Ripple secured one of its major victories in the case against the SEC, as Judge Analisa Torres ruled in favor of Ripple, determining that XRP cannot be considered an unregistered security. This led to major exchanges such as Coinbase, Bitstamp, and Kraken relisting XRP for U.S. users.
XRP had been delisted from many platforms due to the SEC’s lawsuit filed in December 2020 and its intense regulatory scrutiny against cryptocurrency companies and exchanges, negatively impacting its price since then.
However, following Judge Torres’ ruling, the price of XRP experienced an impressive increase of 99.84%, going from approximately $0.47 to a peak of $0.93 in a day. Currently, the price of XRP stands at $0.66, representing a 41% increase since Judge Torres’ ruling.
