Ripple CEO “Will pay 100 million dollars to SEC·US government in XRP”
Brad Garlinghouse, Ripple CEO, announced plans to pay a total of 100 million dollars to the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the United States government in XRP. This statement came shortly after the long legal dispute between Ripple and the SEC was concluded and is interpreted as a signal for a new relationship between the cryptocurrency industry and regulators.
According to UToday on the 12th (local time), Garlinghouse revealed in a Fox Business interview that "Ripple plans to pay 50 million dollars each to the SEC and the United States government out of the total fine amount of 125 million dollars and is negotiating to pay this amount in XRP instead of cash."
He emphasized, "Now Ripple has entered a new market phase beyond the SEC's cryptocurrency war," and "the combination of Decentralized Finance (DeFi) and institutional investment flow will be a key theme going forward."
This statement clearly reveals Ripple's strategic direction beyond a simple legal settlement announcement. In fact, Ripple recently executed the acquisition of Hidden Road worth 2 billion dollars, which is recorded as one of the largest M&As in the history of the cryptocurrency industry. Garlinghouse said, "This was a transaction that would have been impossible under the hostile regulatory environment of the existing SEC and IRS."
Instead of paying the entire fine, Ripple reached a settlement with the SEC through a method of recovering a substantial amount, including some interest, and is pragmatically sorting out its relationship with the regulators by opting to pay the remaining 100 million dollars in XRP.
Garlinghouse criticized former SEC Chairman Gary Gensler's policy as "an approach that deviates from legal standards," and evaluated that the regulatory environment in the United States has become "more cryptocurrency-friendly" after the Trump administration took office.
This move by Ripple is expected to be a test bed not only for the value stability of XRP but also for showing how digital assets can be connected to institutional finance. The market assesses that as XRP's regulatory clarity is secured, Ripple has established the foundation to leap as the main pillar of the DeFi and institutional financial markets.