Ripple CEO Reveals Company Considered Shutdown After 2020 SEC Lawsuit During Speech at University of Kansas Business School

Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse revealed during a speech at the University of Kansas Business School that the company seriously considered shutting down after the SEC lawsuit in 2020, proposing to distribute the XRP held proportionally to shareholders and dissolve the company to end the litigation.

Garlinghouse discussed this plan with co-founder Chris Larsen, believing it would be a relatively easy path against a regulatory body with unlimited resources and power. However, they ultimately chose to fight back due to the potential unemployment of hundreds of employees, with the litigation costing approximately $150 million.

In the market mechanism, institutional investors and XRP holders faced selling pressure and price collapse due to the lawsuit, which led to exchanges delisting XRP and resulting in liquidity depletion. Ripple maintained its existence through legal resistance, while regulatory actions put pressure on crypto companies in general, exposing the personal asset risks of the founding team.