Ripple Labs chief executive, Brad Garlinghouse, and co-founder, Chris Larsen, are facing a civil lawsuit first filed by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) in December 2020. They were accused of violating securities law when they sold XRPs, the exchange's digital tokens.

According to Reuters, the SEC stated in the lawsuit that Ripple Labs illegally raised more than $1.3 billion in an unregistered securities offering by putting its XRP up for sale. In July, the company earned a partial win in the case, and U.S. District Judge Analisa Torres in Manhattan granted this.

SEC Bows Out: Civil Lawsuits Against Garlinghouse and Larsen Withdrawn

At that time, she found that sales of XRP on public exchanges were not unregistered securities offerings. Thus, it was a victory for Ripple Labs and the two executives being charged. The SEC tried to appeal the ruling, but the judge rejected the request.

In the latest update, it appears that the crypto exchange and remittance network firm scored another win after the SEC reportedly decided to drop the cases it filed against the company's executives - Galinghouse and Larsen.

In a court filing in New York on Thursday, Oct. 19, the SEC moved to dismiss the cases. The commission stated in court papers that it will no longer pursue its claims against the two. The dismissed complaints are the allegations that the Ripple Labs CEP and co-founder have helped and gone along with the sales of XRP, which a court determined amounted to unregistered sales of securities.

Ripple Labs' Response to SEC's Case Dismissal

CoinTelegraph reported that the crypto exchange commended the decision to dismiss all claims against Garlinghouse and Larsen. The company's chief legal officer, Stuart Aldeorty, also said that the latest development is not a settlement but "a surrender by the SEC."

He also said that the securities exchange made a serious mistake when they charged Ripple Labs' execs, and now they have conceded defeat. On the other hand, Garlinghouse also posted a message on X, formerly Twitter, and it reads: "In all seriousness, Chris and I were targeted by the SEC in a ruthless attempt to personally ruin us and the company so many have worked hard to build for over a decade."

He added, "The SEC kept its eye off the ball while secretly meeting with the likes of SBF - failing repeatedly to protect U.S. consumers and businesses. How many millions of taxpayer $ were wasted?! Feels good to finally be vindicated."

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