Ripple CEO: We Considered Shutting Down Rather Than Fight SEC
In brief
- Garlinghouse said winding down was easier against a government with 'infinite power and resources'
- Ripple could have distributed XRP pro rata to shareholders and dissolved the company
- Legal costs for the four-year SEC battle totaled roughly $150 million
- SEC and Ripple settled in May 2025 after new Trump-era leadership took office
The Road Not Taken
Garlinghouse said he and Larsen faced a stark choice after the SEC sued Ripple in 2020. Ripple holds a large amount of XRP, and the company could have handed it to shareholders on a pro rata basis and dissolved, effectively ending the case. Garlinghouse described that path as the easier one, against a government he said had "infinite power and resources."
The stakes were clear. He put Ripple's legal costs at $150 million over the four-year fight. Yet they fought anyway.
"I'm glad in retrospect, but that was not obvious at the time" — Brad Garlinghouse, CEO of Ripple
Why They Fought
The decision hinged on jobs. Shutting down would have cost hundreds of employees their positions, so Garlinghouse and Larsen chose to contest the lawsuit. Garlinghouse also pointed to his prior dealings with the SEC. He said he met agency officials four times between 2017 and 2019 without a lawyer and was never told XRP might be treated as a security. That lack of warning underscored the case's complexity.
The Settlement
Ripple prevailed when Judge Analisa Torres ruled that XRP in itself is not a security. The company and the SEC settled in May 2025 after the Trump administration installed new SEC leadership that took a more accommodating approach to crypto. The four-year legal battle ended not with a total loss, but with a resolution that preserved both the company and its workforce.
