Ripple CEO Says SEC Lawsuit Pushed Company to the Brink of Closure; Case Resolved in August 2025

According to Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse, after the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission sued the company in December 2020, Ripple came close to shutting down. Leadership seriously considered winding down the business, distributing XRP holdings to shareholders, and telling regulators Ripple no longer owned XRP. Instead, Garlinghouse and co-founder Chris Larsen chose to fight the lawsuit in court, preserving hundreds of employee jobs and challenging the SEC's legal arguments.

The SEC case was fully resolved in August 2025. Since then, Ripple has rebuilt its U.S. presence, secured licenses in multiple jurisdictions, expanded institutional partnerships, and launched the RLUSD stablecoin, strengthening its position in tokenization and cross-border payments.