Ripple recently walked out of a legal tussle with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) with bruises and bragging rights. In a fresh appearance, Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse suggested that it might pay its $50 million fine in XRP.

Garlinghouse hinted that the tide is turning in Washington. A fresh SEC chair got appointed, and the US doesn’t hate crypto quite as much. However, the recent tariff war has managed to vanish all the gains registered by XRP since it finally ended its legal battle with the commission.

Ripple CEO wants to pay the SEC fine in XRP

In an interview with Fox Business, Brad Garlinghouse stated that the US government is going to end up with $50 million. He also mentioned talking about making that payment in XRP. This statement comes after US President Donald Trump announced that XRP, along with Solana (SOL) and Cardano (ADA) would be included in a newly formed crypto strategic reserve.

Ripple seems to be really enjoying freedom from the legal complications. One year ago, the crypto firm would not have dreamed about dropping $2 billion on a company like Hidden Road. Its recent buyout isn’t just a flex but a signal that the era of crypto companies going global while dodging US regulators may be ending. Garlinghouse thinks the industry is entering a “build, don’t battle” phase in America.

The SEC has already decided to drop its appeal without any conditions while Ripple agreed to put down its cross-appeal. The commission will be keeping $50 million of the $125 million fine and the balance will be returned to the defendants.

US regulators are finally softening up, institutions are no longer frozen out, and crypto has gone from villain to hedge fund’s favorite. “We’ve gone from headwinds to tailwinds,” Garlinghouse said.

Garlinghouse thinks Bitcoin will hit $200K

Brad Garlinghouse also took his shot at predicting Bitcoin’s price, saying he thinks that $200,000 is not unreasonable. However, he didn’t hype up XRP, saying that it’s “too close to home.” 

XRP has been the best-performing major crypto in the last 90 days. “I’m very optimistic,” the CEO added.

Bitcoin price has fluctuated between highs of $83k and lows of $74k over the last 7 days. BTC is trading at an average price of $83,784 as of press time, down by 15% in the past 60 days. On the other hand, XRP has seen a major slump at the same time. XRP price slid by more than 16% over the last 60 days. XRP is trading at an average price of $2.11 as of press time.

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