Tag: Brad Garlinghouse

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Cryptocurrency News Ripple News

Kraken Joins Growing List Of U.S. Exchanges Delisting XRP

Ripple Labs

XRP just is not winning now, as Kraken currently stands as the newest crypto exchange set to suspend trading in XRP tokens. The reason given, similar to the a number of other institutions as well as exchanges which dropped XRP like a hot potato in recent weeks, was because of the SEC enforcement actions brought against Ripple.

Kraken announced on Jan. fifteen that it will halt trading in XRP for US residents. From the company’s statement:

Given the recent SEC filing against Ripple Labs Inc., we are halting XRP trading for U.S. residents no later than January 29, 2021 at 5pm PT (January 30, 2021 at 1:00 UTC). We may begin implementing this process at any time on January 29, 2021, so all U.S. clients are strongly encouraged to resolve their positions prior to that day.

U.S. residents with open XRP spot positions on margin should satisfy their margin obligations by January 28, 2021 at 11:59pm PT or their positions will be liquidated in accordance with our Terms.

The exchange specified that US residents would still be in a position to deposit, hold, and withdraw XRP after the freeze takes place. The activity impacts just US residents; “Clients residing in some other places aren’t affected.”

The announcement additionally contains a FAQ list. It covers subjects like just how long the ban can last (they will adjust to any kind of change in the SEC saga). The upcoming change to a deposit-hold-withdraw mainly regime might improve when the circumstance should improve. Furthermore, the company’s plans about the Spark token airdop remain unrevised.

The SEC Move

News about Ripple has been decidedly negative since the SEC filed its lawsuit against Ripple. The SEC claims that the company sold $1.2 billion of unregistered securities in the type of XRP tokens. Former CEO Christian Larsen along with current CEO Brad Garlinghouse can also be charged with offering another $600 million in unregistered securities in the type of XRP.

Ripple Labs is actually guarding itself in court and in the media. Garlinghouse especially has taken to Twitter to clarify the company’s position, stating that nobody has been quiet, neither can they give up this fight. Garlinghouse claims to be on the proper side of the facts and of history, and is looking forward to Ripple’s day in court – in addition to engaging with the brand new SEC leadership when appointed.

Ripple Treading Water

Exchanges with substantial US exposure even moved fast. Garlinghouse observed that the US accounts for approximately five % of XRP holders, though the exchanges kept a watch on compliance. Bitstamp, Binance, Coinbase, along with OKCoin are actually among the exchanges which have signaled stoppages.

In a single indication as to just how Ripple is going to leave this eddy of exercise, SEC Commissioner Hester Peirce, commonly recognized as ‘Crypto Mom‘, reported in a recent interview that fees like these frequently get settled out of court.

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Blockchain News Cryptocurrency News Ripple News

Ripple Speaks Out Against The SEC Lawsuit

We’ve reported that on December 22, The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has charged Ripple — the company closely associated with the cryptocurrency XRP — along with its executives Brad Garlinghouse and Christian Larsen for selling over $1.3 billion worth of XRP as securities to the public.

The fallout was immediate with investors dumping XRP causing a 3-day crash of more than 50%.

Bitwise eliminated XRP from its crypto index fund.

Bitstamp suspended trading in XRP for U.S. residents.

As to be expected, Ripple has something to say about the SEC charges.

Ripple’s CEO Brad Garlinghouse tweeted that the SEC is unjustifiably attacking crypto and blasted chairman Jay Clayton’s decision to sue his firm right before the holidays.

“Jay Clayton is taking notes from the Grinch this holiday season, leaving the actual legal work to the next administration,” Garlinghouse said, referring to the chairman’s departure at the end of Trump’s presidential tenure. 

Ripple has formally responded with a 6 page statement that states:

A. The SEC’s theory, that XRP is an investment contract, is wrong on the facts, the law and the equities.

B. To prove its case amounts to an unprecedented and ill-conceived expansion of the Howey test and the SEC’s enforcement authority against digital assets.

C. The SEC’s theory that XRP is an investment contract ignores the economic reality that XRP is, and has long been, a digital asset with a fully functional ecosystem and a real use case as a bridge currency that does not rely on Ripple’s efforts for its functionality or price.

D. XRP is a currency. XRP is similar to bitcoin and ether, which the SEC has determined are not securities. 1. By alleging that Ripple’s distributions of XRP are investment contracts while maintaining that bitcoin and ether are not securities, the Commission is picking virtual currency winners and losers, destroying U.S.-based, consumer-friendly innovation in the process.

E. This case is distinguishable from the Initial Coin Offering (“ICO”) and/or Simple Agreements for Future Tokens (“SAFTs”) cases that the Commission has brought previously, which involved no developed ecosystem or established utility for the underlying asset, and where the tokens were sold directly to purchasers by the issuer based on promises of profits and ongoing efforts that were articulated in white papers and other forms.

You can read the entire Ripple response here.

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Cryptocurrency News Ripple News

SEC Lawsuit Filed Against The XRP Firm

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has charged Ripple — the company closely associated with XRP — along with its executives Brad Garlinghouse and Christian Larsen for selling as well as the ongoing sale of over $1.3 billion worth of XRP to the public.

In the filing, the SEC charged since 2013 up to the present time, the defendants have sold over 14.6 billion XRP in return for cash or other consideration to fund Ripple’s operations. 

The SEC said Ripple never filed a registration document, and, therefore, it never provided investors with information all companies that sought investment from the public regularly supplied.

The SEC lawsuit alleges that Ripple broke securities laws by selling XRP directly to consumers across exchanges. According to the complaint filed by The Alliance for Financial Innovation (AFI), Ripple acted in bad faith by not requiring users to sign a disclaimer when offering the discounted currency. Additionally, according to the complaint, Ripple instructed investors to disregard the “Ripple Statement” which is issued by the SEC when promoting the discounted currency. In addition, the complaint claims that Ripple promoted the statement on its website and in emails to customers without disclosing that the advertising was deceptive and in violation of Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) guidelines. As a result, for lack of any express requirement that customers sign a disclaimer or other agreement, investors have reportedly been sending money to the XRP office for their own private investments. As a result, due to the lack of a disclaimer, the SEC found that Ripple broke securities laws by advertising the discounted currency and not requiring users to purchase a product as a security in advance of making a purchase.

The SEC on Wednesday formally sued Ripple, alleging that its co-founder Christian Larsen and CEO Bradley Garlinghouse “created an information vacuum” that allowed them to sell XRP into a market that only had information they chose to share.

According to the SEC’s lawsuit, the duo ignored legal advice that the cryptocurrency could be considered an investment contract and therefore was a security.

“From a financial perspective, the strategy worked,” raising at least $1.38 billion “over a years-long unregistered offering of securities,” the SEC said. “Ripple used this money to fund its operations without disclosing how it was doing so, or the full extent of its payments to others to assist in its efforts to develop a ‘use’ for XRP and maintain XRP secondary trading markets.”

Larsen and Garlinghouse both fervently have denied the SEC’s allegations, publicly arguing that XRP is a currency and should not have to be registered with the SEC as an investment contract. The company has also questioned the lawsuit’s timing – SEC Chairman Jay Clayton is soon to step down – and said the U.S. government and other regulators had previously given XRP currency status.

CEO of Ripple