Ripple's Secret Plan to Abandon XRP and Why It Matters

Ripple's CEO Brad Garlinghouse revealed that in 2020, the company considered shutting down after being sued by the SEC for selling XRP as an unregistered security. The lawsuit led to major US exchanges delisting XRP and a massive price crash.

Garlinghouse said they weighed a plan to make XRP disappear by handing every token it held to shareholders, then telling the SEC there was nothing left to sue over. However, Ripple never executed this plan.

The company spent $150 million over four years fighting the case and eventually prevailed when Judge Analisa Torres ruled that XRP is not a security in 2023. The SEC later dropped its appeal, and the case settled with Ripple paying about $50 million of the $125 million penalty.

Fast forward to this week, XRP made history by becoming the first cryptocurrency ever stitched onto the jerseys of a major college team, the Kansas Jayhawks. The deal is part of a five-year agreement and follows the NCAA's decision to allow Division I programs to wear corporate logos.