Ripple CEO Accused of Corruption; SEC Lawsuit Moves to Appeals Court

The CEO of Ripple, Brad Garlinghouse, is facing allegations of corruption from the co-founder of Swan, a cryptocurrency exchange. The claims, made by Swan's co-founder, Barry Silbert, suggest that Garlinghouse has been involved in unethical activities related to the sale of XRP, Ripple's native cryptocurrency.

The SEC recently removed the press release related to its lawsuit against Ripple from its official website. This move has led to speculation within the crypto community that the case may have reached a settlement or been dropped altogether. However, further analysis suggests that the removal is tied to the fact that the lawsuit has progressed to the Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit. The litigation release section of the SEC's website typically focuses on cases still being handled in federal district courts, and when a case moves to a higher court, the SEC often removes it from this section.

Contrary to speculation about the case's resolution, the legal battle remains active. The SEC is continuing its appeal against the district court's previous ruling, which had granted Ripple a partial victory regarding certain XRP sales. On January 15, 2025, the SEC submitted its opening appeal brief to the Second Circuit, seeking to overturn the lower court's decision on Ripple's programmatic sales and other distributions of its native token. Ripple, on the other hand, is preparing to submit its response on April 16, 2025, aiming to reinforce its earlier victory while challenging the penalties imposed on its institutional sales.

In other news, a wallet activated by Ripple co-founder Chris Larsen transferred over $109 million in XRP to major cryptocurrency exchanges this month. While there is no statement from Ripple or Larsen regarding the transfers, large movements of XRP by wallets linked to Ripple's founders have attracted market attention. Some suggest such transfers could be for liquidity management, while others speculate on potential sell-offs.

Meanwhile, Solana-based meme coin platform Pump.fun has continued offloading SOL tokens, with another 98,000 SOL transferred to Kraken on January 30. This brings the total amount moved this month to 880,877 SOL, worth approximately $212.3 million at Solana's price of $241 per token. The consistent movement of SOL to exchanges has raised questions about potential sell