Ripple Chief Executive Brad Garlinghouse said he and co-founder Chris Larsen debated shutting down the company and distributing its XRP holdings to shareholders after the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission sued Ripple in 2020. They opted to continue operating, a decision that saved hundreds of jobs but incurred roughly $150 million in legal expenses over four years.

Garlinghouse described the contemplated shutdown as the easier path against a regulator he said had unlimited power and resources. He told the University of Kansas School of Business that Ripple could have dissolved and handed XRP to shareholders on a pro rata basis, ending the litigation by ending the company.

The SEC filed its suit in 2020, alleging that Ripple sold XRP as an unregistered security and naming Garlinghouse and Larsen as defendants. Garlinghouse said he met with SEC officials four times between 2017 and 2019 without legal counsel and was never informed that XRP might be treated as a security, which led him to view the agency’s actions as a lack of clear regulatory guidance.

Ripple incurred legal costs of about $150 million during the four‑year litigation. In 2023, a federal judge ruled that XRP itself is not a security, and the parties settled the case in May 2024 after the Trump administration installed new SEC leadership that adopted a more accommodating stance toward cryptocurrency.

Garlinghouse said he was glad in retrospect, though the decision had seemed uncertain at the time.

Ripple continues to operate and hold XRP assets, while the broader regulatory environment for digital assets remains under review.