Brad Garlinghouse, the CEO of Ripple, has announced that XRP has been the top-performing major cryptocurrency over the last 90 days.
This surge comes in the wake of Ripple agreeing to pay $50 million as part of a settlement with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.
It’s worth remembering that the SEC initiated legal action against Ripple back in December 2020, asserting that the company had sold XRP as an unregistered security. This case has become one of the most closely monitored in the cryptocurrency sector.
In a significant ruling in 2023, the court ruled in favor of Ripple on certain points, determining that while institutional sales were deemed legal, XRP sales on public exchanges did breach securities regulations.
To prepare for potential penalties, Ripple had set aside $125 million in escrow.
Garlinghouse remarked, “We’re effectively reclaiming most of that, along with the accrued interest,” during a recent interview. “This is indicative of how the prior SEC under Gary Gensler was on the wrong side of the law. We’re seeing a positive shift with the new leadership both at the SEC and the White House.”
Similar to several other cryptocurrency firms (like Coinbase, Gemini, and Uniswap), Ripple saw advantages from its support for former President Donald Trump. The company reportedly contributed millions to his presidential campaign last year and donated at least $5 million in XRP to the inauguration on January 20.
In a reciprocal gesture, the Trump administration’s SEC dropped numerous lawsuits and investigations against cryptocurrency firms. Supporters of Trump believe this highlights a commitment to establishing a more transparent regulatory framework, while critics argue that it resembles a form of crypto-crony capitalism.
Ripple Grows as Regulations Become More Favorable
With the regulatory landscape becoming less restrictive, Ripple aims to expand its operations. Recently, the firm completed its most significant acquisition thus far, purchasing prime broker Hidden Road for $1.25 billion.
Garlinghouse pointed out that making such a move “would have been illogical a year ago” under the perceived hostile regulatory climate that existed during Gensler’s leadership at the SEC.
“This development enables larger institutions, such as BlackRock and top financial firms on Wall Street, to enter this market in a way that is familiar to them, utilizing a safer prime broker to facilitate transactions and access a more substantial balance sheet,” he detailed.
The Hidden Road acquisition has increased Ripple’s workforce to around 1,100 employees, with Garlinghouse stating that the company had previously focused on hiring talent outside the U.S. due to regulatory uncertainties.
“As a U.S. citizen from Kansas, I want to employ people here. We have some of the finest talent in the world at home. However, investing in a market where we couldn’t sign customers didn’t make sense,” he noted.
Ripple has also broadened its product range with the launch of a stablecoin, attaining a trust license from the New York Department of Financial Services.
Looking forward, Garlinghouse is optimistic that regulatory clarity will continue to improve, particularly regarding stablecoin legislation and market structure proposals. He asserted his belief that federal stablecoin legislation would progress “sooner rather than later.”
When discussing Bitcoin (BTC) price forecasts, Garlinghouse suggested that a target of $200,000 by the year’s end isn’t “unreasonable.”
He indicated that this figure is slightly above his earlier estimate of $175,000, attributing his optimistic outlook to the recent shift in U.S. regulatory policies: “People tend to underestimate how the world’s largest economy has transitioned from a position of resistance to one of support.”
XRP has experienced a significant upward trend over the past year, particularly after a rally following Trump’s election in November. See below.