No Time Wasting: Ripple’s Individual Defendants Respond to SEC’s Amended Complaints  

Brad Garlinghouse and Chris Larsen deny all charges filed by the SEC against them.

Ripple and Individual Defendants are not looking to waste any more time in the lawsuit as they try to speed up the process to bring an end to the landmark lawsuit that has continued to hurt holders of its native cryptocurrency XRP. 

Individual Defendants’ Response

In an important move today, the Individual Defendants, Chris Larsen and Brad Garlinghouse, have filed their responses to the Securities and Exchange Commission’s Amended Complaint. 

According to a response filed by Ripple’s CEO, Garlinghouse, through his counsel, all allegations set forth in the complaint filed by the SEC have been denied.

Garlinghouse refused to respond to most of the allegations leveled by the SEC, as he considered them to be false statements. 

“Defendant Bradley Garlinghouse, by and through his undersigned counsel, hereby answers and asserts defenses to Plaintiff Securities and Exchange Commission’s (“SEC’s”) First Amended Complaint (the “Complaint”).Unless expressly admitted, all allegations set forth in the Complaint are denied,” Garlinghouse responded to the charges filed against him. 

Similarly, Ripple’s Chairman Chris, who recently advocated for a change in the Bitcoin code, also requested in his response that the SEC’s Amended Complaint against him be dismissed. 

“Defendant Christian A. Larsen reserves the right to request dismissal of the Complaint on any and all grounds. Unless expressly admitted, all allegations set forth in the Complaint are denied,” Larsen noted in his response to the SEC’s charges. 

Commenting on the response, attorney Jeremy Hogan, partner at Hogan & Hogan, noted the importance of having Co-Defendants, saying: 

“A good thing about having Co-Defendants is that they can raise the same issues from slightly different perspectives. Here, Attorney Solomon addresses the same issues as Ripple but from oblique angles, and his Preliminary Statement really highlights the problems with the SEC’s case.” 

A good thing about having Co-Defendants is that they can raise the same issues from slightly different perspectives.

Here, Att'y Solomon comes at the same issues as Ripple but from oblique angles, and his Preliminary Statement really highlights the problems with the SEC's case. https://t.co/QFuhgMEEV4 pic.twitter.com/qH11lS5kpJ

— Jeremy Hogan (@attorneyjeremy1) April 9, 2022

Way Forward 

With the filing of the Individual Defendants’ response to the SEC’s amended complaint, the Securities and Exchange Commission’s position on additional discovery is due for submission on April 15, 2022. 

Similarly, the much anticipated Joint Proposed Scheduling Order is due to be submitted on or before April 2022. 

Aside from the SEC’s position on additional discovery and the Joint Proposed Scheduling Order, the Ripple community awaits decisions for the Defendant’s motion to strike the Supplemental Expert Report, motion to compel the turnover of Estabrook’s notes, SEC’s motion for Partial Reconsideration.