Ripple CEO Says Fairshake Exists to Challenge Gary Gensler

Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse has stated that Fairshake, the major political action committee funded by crypto tycoons in the 2024 US elections, has begun to challenge the Securities Exchange Commission’s Gary Gensler.

Brad Garlinghouse, CEO of blockchain-based global payments solution Ripple Labs, sat down with CBS News on December 6 to discuss political action committees and their impact on the US Presidential election. Fairshake, a federally independent, expenses-only committee registered with the Federal Election Commission, would not exist if SEC chairman Gary Gensler did not aggressively regulate cryptocurrencies, the CEO said. “I’m not sure Fairshake will exist,” he said.

The antidote to the ‘war on crypto’

Speaking to CBS News on Dec. 6, Garlinghouse said Fairshake was a common response to what he called the “war on crypto,” as the SEC significantly increased its regulatory pressures under Gensler. In fact, the agency had filed more than 120 lawsuits against crypto companies, including Ripple Labs, Uniswap, Terraform Labs, Coinbase, Binance, and Kraken, citing violations of securities laws. According to Garlinghouse, the enforcement actions created an unexpected unity in the crypto industry, leading to the emergence of the PAC.

So if there was an SEC chairman other than Gary Gensler… I’m not sure Fairshake would exist. Why did these companies come together, organize and say, ‘This is important’? “This is a reaction to the war on crypto.”
Brad Garlinghouse is the CEO of Ripple Labs.

When asked if the PAC was accused of political motives, the 53-year-old CEO explained that the PAC’s mission is not political influence but a framework to create a balanced legal framework to ensure the scalability of blockchain technology. This is in line with President-elect Donald Trump’s 2024 campaign manifesto in July 2024 in Nashville, which emphasizes transforming the United States into a global leader in cryptocurrency.

Garlinghouse also revealed that the company spent over $150 million in legal expenses defending its position. The legal battle has centered around whether Ripple’s native token, XRP, should be classified as exempt from registration and disclosure requirements applicable to securities.