Ripple CEO Calls 2021 “Strongest” Year Despite Legal Battle with the SEC

• Brad Garlinghouse, Ripple CEO has said that 2021 is the strongest year for his company despite the legal struggle with the SEC.

• According to him, many positive metrics were recorded including RippleNet transactions more than doubling in 2021 from the third quarter of 2020.

Ripple was mostly in the news for its legal struggle with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) in 2021. Brad Garlinghouse, the CEO of Ripple, and Chris Larsen were accused of selling unregistered securities through Ripple. During this period, XRP has found itself in its worst situation after a massive sell-off and getting delisted by several crypto exchanges.

According to the SEC, XRP sales were in the same bracket as a company selling stocks or bonds, so it was supposed to be registered with the Commission. This triggered a panic sale of XRP, causing its price to see a little surge in a year when Bitcoin (BTC) and Ethereum (ETH) recorded new all-time highs. Though many XRP investors will hesitate to call 2021 a successful year, Garlinghouse believes that the year was the strongest for Ripple and a breakthrough year for the crypto industry. 

According to him, many positive metrics were recorded including RippleNet transactions more than doubling in 2021 from the third quarter of 2020. Also, the On-Demand Liquidity (ODL) saw a 130 percent increase quarter by quarter and is now accessible in 20 countries globally. 

The ODL transaction represented 25 percent of the total dollar volume in the third quarter on the network. The worldwide ODL volume has also seen sustainable growth increasing more than 25 times since the third quarter of 2020.

Ripple CEO says SEC chairman resorts to anti-crypto tone

The company states that RippleNet was designed to ensure that customers switch to ODL after the market matures enough. 

This is exactly what’s happening – in fact, three out of five of our highest-transacting customers in 2020 have now upgraded to ODL to leverage the benefits of XRP-powered payments for their business.

Despite the global breakthrough of the Ripple products and services, XRP’s ODL flow has been affected by the regulatory ambiguity in the United States, causing its operation to be suspended. Garlinghouse reemphasized his position on the intention of SEC that the Commission’s action is an attack on the entire crypto industry, not just Ripple. 

Of all the shitty things in 2020, this was certainly one to cap the year 🤣. But what I said then remains (painfully) true today: this is an attack on crypto in the US, not just Ripple. Some took the SEC’s allegations at face value/ thought this was a one off, but no longer. 2/10

— Brad Garlinghouse (@bgarlinghouse) December 22, 2021

Commenting on SEC calling crypto a “Wild West”, he mentioned that it is a “farce” as most crypto companies comply with the financial regulations worldwide, and also urged regulators not to impose penalties on businesses that require clarity. 

Calling crypto the “Wild West” is a farce – most are complying with financial regulators globally. This industry shouldn’t be punished for asking for regulatory clarity & regulation that is consistently applied with a level playing field.

He noted that developing Web2 involved the contribution of several American firms. With companies relocating outside the US to escape the unfavorable crypto environment, he questions whether Web3 will be the same. He finally accused SEC chairman Gary Gensler of resorting to a rigorous anti-crypto tone.