Ripple CEO declares anti‑crypto opposition defeated

The political and regulatory landscape for digital assets in the United States has shifted significantly, according to Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse, who declared that opposition to the industry has been defeated. In a public statement on May 28, Garlinghouse said the so-called "Anti-Crypto Army" was defeated by the courts, by voters, and by President Donald Trump, arguing that such opposition never made policy, legal, or political sense.

Garlinghouse's comments followed a post by President Trump pledging to make the United States the "crypto capital of the world" and to establish a future-proof digital asset market structure. Trump criticized the previous regulatory approach, specifically mentioning former Securities and Exchange Commission Chair Gary Gensler.

The Ripple CEO linked his assessment directly to his company's long-running legal battle with the SEC. The agency sued Ripple in 2020, alleging that sales of the XRP token constituted an unregistered securities offering. In 2023, Judge Analisa Torres ruled that XRP sales on secondary markets were not securities transactions, a decision widely cited as a pivotal legal development for the industry. The SEC later moved to...