Ripple in Deep waters: CEO Brad Garlinghouse Face Another Lawsuit For Sale of XRP Tokens to Florida Residents

By: Dickson Arinze

February 01, 2021 2:00 PM

Ripple Labs Inc and Brad Garlinghouse are facing another class-action lawsuit aside current one with U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) alleging that the defendants sold XRP, which it considers unregistered security, for over $1.38 billion.

The lawsuit was filed in a Florida district court which claims that the "sale of XRP tokens to Florida residents" is against the Florida securities laws. The suit also states Ripple Lab Inc., XRP II LLC, and Garlinghouse as the defendants.

They have allegedly sold “millions of dollars" in XRP tokens since 2013 without registering either with federal or Florida authorities. Recently after the SEC filed a lawsuit against Ripple, several major cryptocurrency exchanges delisted XRP, to mention a few Coinbase, Binance, Okcoin, and Blockchain.com. Ripple has insisted that XRP is not a security and plans to fight the SEC charges.

Tyler Toomey who appeared as the plaintiff said he purchased 135 XRP on or around Nov. 24, 2020, for $97.80 and then sold the coins at a loss. The lawsuit states that the “plaintiff sustained a loss of $48.56, or just over 50% of his initial investment.)”

However, the plaintiff’s loss is small, he “seeks to represent a class defined as all persons or entities in the State of Florida who purchased XRP.”

Tyler Toomey is seeking financial compensation including “reasonable” attorney’s fees, expenses, and costs of the suit, on his behalf and behalf of other class members.