XRP is the top-performing major cryptocurrency over the past 90 days, according to Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse.
The rally coincides with Ripple (XRP) agreeing to pay $50 million to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission as part of a settlement.
Recall how the SEC sued Ripple in December 2020, claiming it sold XRP as an unregistered security. The legal battle became one of the crypto industry’s most closely watched cases.
In a key 2023 ruling, the court gave Ripple a partial win: institutional sales were legal, but XRP sales on public exchanges did violate securities laws.
Ripple originally set aside $125 million in escrow for potential penalties.
“We’re actually taking most of that back, including the interest that had been earned along the way,” Garlinghouse said in a Fox Business interview. “I think it’s just evidence that the former [Gary] Gensler SEC was on the wrong side of the law. And thanks to the new leadership at the SEC and in the White House.”
Like other crypto companies (i.e., Coinbase, Gemini, Uniswap), Ripple benefited from supporting President Donald Trump. Last year, the company reportedly donated millions to his presidential campaign and at least $5 million in XRP tokens to the inauguration on Jan. 20.
The Trump administration’s SEC promptly dropped numerous lawsuits and investigations against crypto companies as a thank-you. While Trump allies say this underscores a willingness to create a more transparent regulatory framework, critics argue it’s a form of crypto-crony capitalism.
Ripple expands as regulations ease
With the regulatory cloud lifting, Ripple plans to expand its business. The company recently completed its largest acquisition to date, purchasing prime broker Hidden Road for $1.25 billion.
Garlinghouse emphasized that such a move “would have made no sense a year ago” under what he perceived to be a hostile regulatory environment under former SEC chair Gary Gensler.
“This allows even larger institutions like BlackRock, like the biggest Wall Street financial institutions, to come into this market in a way they understand with a safer prime broker to help clear transactions and a bigger balance sheet to do that,” he explained.
The Hidden Road acquisition brings Ripple’s employee count to approximately 1,100 people, with Garlinghouse noting that for years, the company was forced to focus on hiring outside the United States due to regulatory uncertainty.
“As a U.S. citizen, I grew up in Kansas. I’d like to hire people here. We have some of the best talent in the world here. But it made no sense to invest in a market where we couldn’t sign customers,” he said.
Ripple has recently increased its product offerings by launching a stablecoin with a New York trust license from the New York Department of Financial Services.
Looking ahead, Garlinghouse expects regulatory clarity to continue improving in two key areas: stablecoin legislation and market structure bills. He expressed confidence that federal stablecoin legislation would move forward “sooner rather than later.”
When asked about Bitcoin (BTC) price predictions, Garlinghouse suggested that $200,000 by year-end was “not unreasonable.”
He mentioned that it is slightly higher than his previous forecast of $175,000. He attributed his bullish outlook to the shift in the U.S. regulatory approach: “People underestimate how the largest economy in the world, the U.S., went from headwinds, hostility to tailwinds.”
XRP has been on an upward trajectory over the past year. A rally occurred following Donald Trump’s re-election in Novemeber. See below.
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