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Ripple Labs’ CEO Brad Garlinghouse hailed the US Securities and Exchange Commission’s decision to drop its multi-year lawsuit against the company as a “victory for the industry.” Speaking at Blockworks’ 2025 Digital Asset Summit in New York, Garlinghouse emphasized the significance of the SEC’s move to end its legal battle with Ripple, the developer behind the XRP Ledger blockchain.
On March 19, Garlinghouse announced that the SEC was formally dismissing its case, bringing an end to nearly four years of litigation. The lawsuit, filed in 2020, had accused Ripple of conducting an unregistered securities sale worth $1.3 billion.
“This really marks a turning point—not just for Ripple, but for the entire industry,” Garlinghouse said during the Summit. “It’s a fresh start.”
Major reversal
The SEC’s dismissal of the Ripple case is seen as the latest—and perhaps the most impactful—policy reversal under President Donald Trump’s administration. The agency has also recently dropped enforcement actions against other prominent crypto firms such as Coinbase, Kraken, and Uniswap, all of which had faced similar accusations related to securities laws.
Under the previous Biden administration, the SEC had pursued more than 100 enforcement actions against crypto companies. These cases often centered on allegations that firms failed to register their products as securities, with former SEC Chair Gary Gensler asserting broad regulatory authority over much of the crypto market.
Since taking office, Trump has signaled a friendlier approach toward the crypto sector. He pledged to make the United States the "world's crypto capital" and has chosen pro-crypto people to key regulatory positions.
“The shift really began with the changes in Congress and the executive branch,” Garlinghouse noted. “Trump came in and appointed Paul Atkins to lead the SEC and Scott Bessent at Treasury, while David Sacks became the administration’s AI and crypto advisor—a newly established role at the White House.”
Garlinghouse reflected on Ripple’s long legal battle, stating, “I’ve always believed we were standing on the right side of the law and history. The SEC was simply using its power to intimidate the industry.”
With the legal hurdles behind them, Ripple is now turning its attention to global growth, Garlinghouse added.
"Ripple has invested and acquired more than $2 billion in the cryptocurrency space," he stated."And many of these initiatives go beyond XRP itself. I believe that if the broader crypto ecosystem succeeds, Ripple will benefit as well.”