<\/p>\n
In a talk at the <\/span>University of Kansas School of Business<\/span><\/a>, <\/span>Brad Garlinghouse<\/span><\/a> said he and co-founder <\/span>Chris Larsen<\/span><\/a> weighed winding down the company and distributing its XRP cryptocurrency holdings to shareholders.<\/span><\/p>\n The company saw this as the easier path when facing a government with \u201cinfinite power and resources,\u201d said Garlinghouse, whose comments were <\/span>reported<\/span><\/a> Sunday (July 12) by CoinDesk. Instead, Ripple decided to fight the SEC suit, as closing down would have cost hundreds of people their livelihoods, he added.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m glad in retrospect, but that was not obvious at the time,\u201d the CEO said.<\/span><\/p>\n The SEC <\/span>sued Ripple<\/span><\/a>, Garlinghouse and Larsen in 2020, alleging the company had sold XRP as an unregistered security. Garlinghouse said the ensuing legal battle cost Ripple $150 million over the course of four years.<\/span><\/p>\n Ripple <\/span>scored a victory<\/span><\/a> in 2023 when Judge Analisa Torres ruled that XRP was subject to securities laws only when sold to institutional investors. The company and SEC settled their case last year amid a larger <\/span>scaling back<\/span><\/a> of crypto regulation under the Trump administration.<\/span><\/p>\n In other crypto-related news, PYMNTS recently explored the way stablecoin custody could be the business that helps strengthen banks\u2019 positioning in the <\/span>institutional market<\/span><\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cTraditional financial institutions already possess traits corporate treasurers value: regulated custody, established payment infrastructure, treasury services and long-standing client relationships,\u201d that report said.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cIf those services become the operating center for institutional stablecoins, banks could occupy a pivotal position without necessarily putting their own tokens into circulation.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n That possibility got fresh support with BNY\u2019s <\/span>announcement<\/span><\/a> last month that it had expanded its partnership with Circle.<\/span><\/p>\n