The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has dropped its lawsuit against Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse and co-founder Chris Larsen. The regulator had accused the crypto executives of "aiding and abetting" in the sale of securities offerings on their platform.
Garlinghouse, Larsen, and SEC attorneys said in a filing with the U.S. District Court of Southern New York that the SEC's claims against the two executives had been "dismissed in their entirety," Bitcoin.com reported. The SEC notified District Judge Analisa Torres of the dismissal and said there is no longer a need for the trial that had previously been requested.
Earlier this month, Judge Torres rejected the SEC's request to appeal her July ruling that Ripple's sale of the token XRP to the general public did not constitute a securities offering, Bitcoin.com reported. Ripple Chief Legal Officer Stuart Alderoty described the dismissal of the lawsuit against Garlinghouse and Larsen as the latest in a series of three "consecutive wins," following the July ruling and the October rejection of the request to appeal.
In a post on X, Garlinghouse said the SEC targeted him and Larsen in a "ruthless attempt" to destroy them and their company, even though the SEC was not alleging that they had committed any fraud. He pointed out that the SEC "secretly" met with people like Sam Bankman-Fried, the former crypto mogul who is currently on trial for fraud, and said the SEC has repeatedly failed to protect consumers and businesses. He questioned how many millions of taxpayer dollars the SEC has wasted on its litigation.
Alderoty said in a post on X that the SEC did not settle in the Ripple case; it surrendered.
Alderoty said in a July episode of the Chain Reaction podcast that the judge's ruling about XRP sales could be a positive signal for other ongoing SEC litigation. He highlighted Coinbase, the largest crypto exchange in the U.S., and Binance, the largest crypto exchange in the world, both of which are being sued by the SEC over alleged securities violations. He speculated that the Ripple ruling would "play well" for both Coinbase and Binance.
