Ripple CEO regrets not ‘leaning in’ to introducing crypto earlier amidst SEC case

CEO of Ripple Labs, Brad Garlinghouse, admitted that he regrets not communicating with US regulators sooner about crypto trading as XRP is currently in the middle of a legal battle with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

During his conversation with CNBC at DC Fintech Week on Oct. 24, Ripple(XRP) Labs CEO Brad Garlinghouse, talked about how he has “made far more trips to DC in the past few years” than he ever did before. This is largely due to the ongoing legal case between XRP and the SEC.

In regards to the case, Garlinghouse said that he wishes his team had taken the time to communicate with US regulators sooner and avoided the situation entirely.

“I look back on that and I regret that. I think we made a mistake by not leaning in earlier. And we’re trying to make up for lost time to some degree,” said Garlinghouse.

Earlier this year, the SEC won a lawsuit against Ripple Labs which accused the tech company of orchestrating unwarranted sales of XRP tokens worth $1.3 billion due to the token being classified as an unregistered security.

The SEC also alleged that XRP created certain expectations of profit for investors. Ripple is set to file its own cross-appeal to challenge the ruling on institutional sales, and both sides are bracing for a lengthy process that could potentially change the crypto landscape in the US.

Garlinghouse went on to say that he considered the US is still falling behind other countries when it comes to crypto adoption and regulations.

He mentioned that he has been in conversations with regulators and central banks from countries that he considers are ahead of the curve compared to the US in regards to crypto regulations, like Japan, the United Kingdom , Singapore, United Arab Emirates, and Brazil.

Overall, he blamed misinformation for the US’ slow adoption of crypto, specifically the Head of the SEC, Gary Gensler for his antagonistic stance towards the crypto industry. Under Gensler’s leadership, the SEC has prosecuted a number crypto companies and executives, including lawsuits against the Coinbase platform and Binance founder Changpeng Zhao.

“The US is a laggard and for reasons that don’t really make sense. I think it does get back to this kind of misinformation that it’s been, I think the Gensler reign of terror mixed with the Elizabeth Warren spreading misinformation saying crypto’s the Bogeyman, and it’s just not the case,” said Garlinghouse.

According to the global crypto adoption index report for 2024 by Chainalysis, the United States is ranked in fourth place based on the overall index ranking, placing behind Indonesia, Nigeria and India.

“Crypto activity increased across countries of all income brackets, with a pullback in high income countries since the beginning of 2024,” Chainalysis stated in its report.