Ripple has asked for the wider cryptocurrency community to wait to hear their side of the story following the SEC’s filing of a lawsuit against the company for what it deems to be an alleged, ongoing unregistered securities offering.
The embattled company released a statement on 29 December after a number of major cryptocurrency exchanges had announced that they would delist or temporarily stop XRP trading on their platforms following the SEC’s recently announced suit against the company.
Midway through December Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse announced that the company had been informed by the SEC that it would institute legal proceedings for what it deems to be an ongoing unregistered securities offering in relation to XRP tokens.
Just a few days later the SEC released its initial suit against Ripple, Garlinghouse and co-founder and executive chairman of the board Christian Larsen for allegedly conducting the unregistered offering from 2013 onwards. Major cryptocurrency exchanges like Coinbase have indicated that they will institute suspensions of trading of XRP on their exchanges.
Reiterating attack on crypto industry
Ripple is calling for the wider cryptocurrency community to give them a fair opportunity to present a fair argument against the SEC’s allegations and also stressed that the recently orchestrated legal proceedings are an ‘attack on the entire cryptocurrency industry’ in the Unites States.
“We’ve always said that there is a dangerous lack of regulatory clarity for crypto in the U.S. — their lawsuit has already affected countless innocent XRP retail holders with no connection to Ripple. It has also needlessly muddied the waters for exchanges, market makers and traders. The SEC has introduced more uncertainty into the market, actively harming the community they’re supposed to protect. It’s no surprise that some market participants are reacting conservatively as a result,” the company’s statement read.
The company indicated that it would continue normal operation and support of its products and customers in the United States and across the world. It was also noted that majority of XRP users are not based in America and XRP trading volumes are far higher overseas than in the US. Ripple also said that it had met rules for using the token in the United Kingdom, Japan, Switzerland and Singapore
“In the meantime, Ripple will continue to operate and support all products and customers in the For eight years, we’ve built products that help hundreds of customers solve pain points around global payments — we will defend our company and look forward to settling this matter in court to finally get clarity for the U.S. crypto industry.”
The company also added that it would actively work with the SEC’s commissioners and its new leadership once it is appointed. Current chairman Jay Clayton has just stepped down from his position, as well as six directors from various divisions as well as its chief economist and general counsel.
