brad garlinghouse

YouTube and Ripple Intertwined In Lawsuit Battle For XRP Scam Videos

Blockchain company Ripple and CEO of the currency exchange network Brad Garlinghouse is suing YouTube for allegedly playing a part in the repeated Ripple (XRP) crypto giveaway scams that have been circulating on the video content platform.

Ripple Angered By YouTube

Ripple argued that the video sharing company benefitted from crypto scammer’s malicious channels, as revenue could be generated from the paid ads that played in between video streams.

YouTube Fights Back

YouTube’s legal team was quick to fight back, refuting the claims that the company should have been the one responsible for preventing crypto scammers from uploading content that impersonated Ripple. Furthermore, the circulating videos incited YouTube subscribers to send their crypto assets, impersonating Ripple CEO Garlinghouse and claiming that crypto enthusiasts would be awarded with Ripple tokens (XRP) in exchange for their efforts.

When countering the lawsuit filed by Brad Garlinghouse, YouTube brought up Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act. Section 230 is a bill that protects video content publishers from liability over content provided by third parties, and YouTube legal team said that it was applicable in this scenario. The video content platform said that it was not the one to be held responsible, as scam channels were not published by them, but by third-party entities. YouTube’s legal team countered the lawsuit by stating:

“The right of publicity law protects individuals’ names, images or voices from being used for commercial purposes without permission, but Ripple’s suit alleges that a third-party hacker employed Garlinghouse’s identity in its videos, not YouTube.”

Scammers Target YouTube, Twitter — What’s Next?

Scamming via social platforms is not an uncommon thing. In recent news, it was reported that Twitter suffered the hugest Bitcoin scam attack it has ever known. Crypto scammers seized the verified accounts of multiple celebrities and well-known figures such as Bill Gates and Elon Musk in order to line their crypto wallets with Bitcoin funds.

Apple Co-Founder Steve Wozniak Sues Google and YouTube Over Fraudulent Bitcoin Scam Videos

Legal team for Steve Wozniak, co-founder of tech powerhouse Apple, announced a lawsuit against YouTube and their parent company Google, alleging that the media companies failed to take down fraudulent videos that impersonated Wozniak. The videos were created in the purpose of driving Bitcoin funds.

Apple Demands Justice

Wozniak mentioned that the videos were not only impersonating him, but also other key tech celebrity figures such as Elon Musk and Bill Gates in the efforts of accumulating Bitcoin (BTC) assets. The scam videos in question would illustrate images of Wozniak and misled YouTube subscribers to think that if they sent cryptocurrencies to a designated wallet address, they would receive twice the amount of BTC back. The Apple co-founder stated in his lawsuit that YouTube should have been the one responsible for removing the Bitcoin scam videos.

Wozniak filed the legal complaint under the pretense that YouTube and Google had repeatedly ignored requests to take down crypto scam videos, and that they knowingly promoted and made a profit of the fraudulent streams, by providing advertising on top of it. According to Joe Cotchett, who is part of the Apple co-founder’s legal team, presented this argument:

“When Twitter was hit with a massive hack of 130 celebrity accounts, they were quick to shut down the Bitcoin scam in a day. In a stark contrast, the Complaint alleges that YouTube knowingly allowed the Bitcoin scam to go on for months promoted it and profited from it by selling targeted advertising.”

YouTube Joins Twitter in BTC Scams

What Joe Cotchett was referring to is none other than the infamous Twiter hack attack that happened last week, and that ironically went viral. With investors hoping that the price of Bitcoin will surge on the crypto market, Bitcoin scams are becoming increasingly common.

Last week, Twitter suffered from a similar BTC scam that was so successful and invasive that it locked down the platform for a while. The hack attack was unlike anything Twitter has ever experienced and created quite a ripple, with multiple celebrity verified accounts being compromised. World-famous verified accounts that were ceased ranged from Kanye West’s to political figures Joe Biden and Barack Obama’s Twitter, and similar messages appeared on all platform.

The messages linked the hackers’ wallet address and was used to channel Bitcoin funds straight into the crypto scheme artists’ digital pockets.

Unfortunately, YouTube still appears to be dominating in terms of the platform which scam artists resort to the most. The video content platform has been receiving alot of backlash lately, not only from multimedia tech company Apple, but also from other digital ecosystems that have filed lawsuits for similar reasons.

Ripple Also Rips at YouTube

In fact, earlier this week, cryptocurrency exchange Ripple’s legal team also filed a lawsuit against the video content platform for not taking down XRP crypto scam videos impersonating Ripple Labs Founder Brad Garlinghouse. The crypto exchange founder was even more angered by the fact that YouTube could benefit from paid ads that streamed on their platform and that was generated automatically with the scam videos.

Ripple CEO: Global Governments Now See Blockchain Solution to Addressing Transparency and Settlement

Brad Garlinghouse, Ripple CEO, believes most governments consider blockchain technology a game-changer as it solves frictions like transparency and settlement.

Crypto skyrocketing as the dollar diminishes

As a response to a Bloomberg report, he tweeted that many viewed crypto as a scam in 2019, but now the odds have changed as it is up by 80%, whereas the dollar has declined by 3%.

The US dollar has been at the helm as the global reserve currency. Garlinghouse trusts that this position will not change in favor of crypto or gold, as it is the backbone of the global financial infrastructure. Nevertheless, he points out that it has been shaky and weak, especially during the present economic turmoil instigated by the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.

On the contrary, the crypto market is on an upward trajectory given that Bitcoin, the leading cryptocurrency, slumped to $3,800 on Black Thursday in March, but it’s now hovering around the $11,000 price.

Different nations are continuing to be active participants in the crypto space. For instance, Iran recently gave power plants the go-ahead to mine Bitcoin because of cheap electricity.

Diversification is key

Garlinghouse acknowledged that worldwide populations are losing confidence in fiat currencies, as evidenced by the dollar drop. Therefore, this gives blockchain an upper hand as it boils down to trust in the financial system.

He noted, “It comes down to trust in the financial system at the end of the day. As global populations continue to lose confidence in fiat currencies (as we’re seeing with USD), they will choose to diversify. Our future global financial system will do the same.”

Blockchain triggers transparency based on the decentralization of systems, and this is an issue Garlinghouse highlights as it will prompt diversification based on immutable storage and traceability.

Image source: Photo by Steve Jennings / Getty Images

Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse Criticizes India’s New Bill Seeking to Ban Crypto Trading

Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse has posted a tweet criticizing India’s government’s renewed efforts to introduce a law to ban cryptocurrency trading.

Garlinghouse tweeted that he is completely disappointed by the government’s flip-flop policies on cryptocurrency, which would be harmful to the crypto industry. He further claims that India has one of the biggest underbanked and unbanked populations in the world.

War on Cryptocurrency Continues

On September 15, India’s federal cabinet drafted a new bill that would ban trading of any virtual currencies in the country. The news has caused a bit of worry and confusion within the crypto community, with many key players speaking against the move.

India has been opposing the cryptocurrencies for many years. In 2018, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) imposed a banking ban on cryptocurrency exchanges. Supreme Court of India lifted the ban on a landmark ruling on March 4, 2020. Since the ban was quashed, crypto exchanges in the country have seen a massive rise in trading volume.

However, if the proposed bill is passed, it would eliminate significant progress that has been made over the past few months.

The country’s aversion towards the crypto industry appears counter-productive, given that the nation has a financial inclusion problem. India is among the top nations in the world with financial inclusion problems with more than 150 million unbanked adults (rivaling neighboring China among developing nations).

Digital currencies have become a popular approach that many people in India use to access cross-border payments, with the nation having one of the highest remittances in the world. Another cryptocurrency ban would therefore be counter-productive given the massive potentials of virtual currencies in the nation.

The Government Encouraging Blockchain Technology

Although India’s government intends to ban cryptocurrency trading, it is developing a favorable environment for blockchain technology. The new law puts blockchain innovation as a top priority when it comes to educational certificates, land registration, supply chain management, and several others. The government has been eyeing blockchain because the technology has a big potential of being applied in various sectors like governance, education, cybersecurity, banking, and securing the future of the country’s economic development and growth.

Ripple CEO Says DOJ Report Offers No Regulatory Clarity, XRP Price Not Influenced

The tightening regulations on cryptocurrency raise many concerns and the DoJ’s new guidance around cryptocurrency enforcement, which casts the industry as fraught with criminal activity, has Ripple’s CEO and the crypto community up in arms.

Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse has been critical of the oppressive US regulation towards blockchain and digital assets. On Oct 7, incidentally, only two days after John McAfee’s arrest in Spain for ICO fraud and tax evasion, the Ripple CEO tweeted:

“Strongest internet companies built in the US, in part b/c of regulatory clarity. We have that opp with blockchain + digital assets. Responsible players like Ripple aren’t looking to avoid rules, we just want to operate in a jurisdiction where the rules are clear.”

The day after Garlinghouse floated the idea that Ripple may move operations to avoid crushing United States regulation, the crypto regulatory environment further intensified.

Attorney General William P. Barr published a cryptocurrency enforcement framework that provides, “a comprehensive overview of the emerging threats and enforcement challenges associated with the increasing prevalence and use of cryptocurrency; details the important relationships that the Department of Justice has built with regulatory and enforcement partners both within the United States government and around the world; and outlines the Department’s response strategies.”

What seems to have alarmed the crypto community and Ripple’s CEO is that the report cites the words “crime” and “criminals” almost 170 times and states: “Ripple Labs willfully violated several requirements of the [Bank Secrecy Act] BSA.”

Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse believes the report falls short of providing any further clear guidance, which he believes the United States desperately needs. He tweeted:

“An 70+ page contradictory report is not regulatory clarity — many responsible private players are trying to follow the rules, but that becomes increasingly hard when there’s no single arbiter of the law.”

The Ripple CEO commented on the report believing that the report is not regulatory clarity highlighting that unclear regulation is making it increasingly difficult to follow the rules.

Garlinghouse said:

“We need a framework (like #DCEA) that provides clarity, protects consumers AND fosters innovation in the United States or companies will move their investment (or whole company) overseas.”

As mentioned, Ripple is prominently cited in the DOJ’s report as “one example of successful collaboration, FinCEN, working in coordination with the United States Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of California, assessed a $700,000 civil monetary penalty in 2015 against Ripple Labs Inc. and its wholly-owned subsidiary, XRP II, LLC.67″

The XRP Price Reaction

Despite talks of relocation, Ripple is currently a US-based blockchain company and the DOJ’s Cryptocurrency Enforcement Framework will no doubt have a direct and profound impact on Ripple’s future and the XRP price.

Source: TradingView XRP/USDT

At the time of writing, Ripple’s XPR token remains uninfluenced by the Cryptocurrency Enforcement Framework news and is up 2.45% over the last 24hrs, sitting at a price of $0.25. However, the Ripple XRP price still appears to be on a downtrend. Charts analysis indicates that the 30-day moving average has become the support level after a price surge on Oct 4. But the 90-day MA is a critical resistance level that XRP must break to resume any upward price action, the Ripple crypto is currently consolidating below the 90-day MA.

The XRP price appears content to fluctuate between the 90-day MA and the 30-day MA levels, but we expect that when the DOJ regulation is put into action, XRP price could face a drop.

Additional reporting by Kun Hu

Ripple CEO Hints at Firm's Likely Move from US after DOJ Report

Ripple’s Chief Executive Officer Brad Garlinghouse has further hinted that Ripple Labs may exit the United States and relocate their base of operations to another country due to unclear regulation for blockchain and digital asset firms and projects.

As the Ripple executive noted, the fact that US regulators are unable to enact a unifying framework to regulate the crypto industry is posing a disadvantage to some United States-based firms and this might just drive the company to set up camp in other more receptive countries.

Garlinghouse tweeted;

“The lack of a single national regulatory framework is putting US innovation and US companies at a significant disadvantage. All we’re asking for is a level playing field – if we need to move to another country to get that, then that’s the path we will have to take.”

As Blockchain.news reported, the initial inclination given that suggests Ripple may seek relocate its headquarters abroad came from Ripple’s co-founder Chris Larsen. Larsen who said that the United States has crushing biased regulations set up the stage for Garlinghouse who noted that the Department of Justice in its recent publication of Cryptocurrency Enforcement Framework highlighted 8 different regulatory bodies with a differing view about crypto assets.

“Last week’s DOJ report lists 8 separate US reg bodies each with a different view: crypto is property, crypto is a commodity, crypto is a virtual currency, crypto is a security, etc. Regulation shouldn’t be a guessing game.”

Garlinghouse is renowned for speaking out against unfriendly cryptocurrency laws as he did with India and his current reaction with respect to the position of US regulators is not uncommon. While the Ripple CEO did not give a hint of the probable country the company might likely relocate to, it is apparent that the CEO is set to make the move as he noted that some regulations made by the US regulators already favor Chinese companies over that of the United States’, a situation that does not place all companies on “equal footing.”

XRP Price Drops During Ripple Swell Conference

Ripple is hosting the annual conference Swell discussing global payments on October 14 and 15 which brings together world industry leaders and policymakers.

At the conference, Mahesh Uttamchandani from World Bank Group has discussed the advantage of digitizing social payment.

From the discussions and presentations, regulations and legal issues are currently the a concern for innovation and continues to be a huge concern for crypto markets.

David Mills, associate director of the Federal Reserve Board, gave a speech on CDBC. He said:

“Part of our innovation process is to understand how emerging technologies or technologies that could be used for central bank digital currencies (CDBC) tie to security, protection of data, consumer protections and legal foundations. We think both on the technology innovation front and on the policy and business side front.”

For Ripple’s CEO Brad Garlinghouse, the event was not all good news as he would later voice is concerns via Twitter on the crushing and unclear regulation practices in the United States. The Ripple CEO recently even hinted that the firm will relocate to Asia or Europe following the DoJ’s recent crypto enforcement report. Garlinghouse re-tweeted his interview from the event: .

“US interests, companies & innovation are all at stake in this race for control of our future global financial infra. China, UK, and others are far ahead — US is out of sync and needs to implement a clear reg framework now.”

In the face of the complexity with regulation, Ripple’s XRP token price plunged. XRP has dropped around 3.6% over the last 24 hours. The price movement appears consistent with the overall crypto market and stock market performance. As with the DOJ recent report that appeared to frame all privacy-preferenced transactions as criminal, there are looming regulatory concerns within the crypto market. The overall markets are also filled with uncertainty, especially as the hope begins to fade for another round of stimulus before the elections in the United States.

Source: TradingView, Ripple XRP Price Chart

Technically speaking, the XRP is still on a downtrend. As analyzed in “Ripple (XRP) Price Surged Above a Critical Level”, XRP has moved between the 90-day MA level and 30-day MA level. After surging above 30-day MA on Oct 4, the XPR has consolidated along with the below of 90-day Moving Average. News of the exciting Ripple Swell Conference did not deter the price from plunging, but it is not clear if the XRP price will continue to slip or rebound when it meets the 30-day MA support level.

US Blockchain Firm Ripple Considers Relocation to UK and Singapore for Better Crypto Regulatory Clarity

Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse elaborated further on why the UK and Singapore may potentially be future hosts of his blockchain firm Ripple, asserting that the crypto regulatory framework adopted by these countries may be more beneficial for Ripple (XRP) operations.

In addition to the UK and Singapore, Garlinghouse mentioned that Japan, Switzerland, and the United Arab Emirates were also places he was considering.

Ripple Labs considers alternatives to the US

The CEO’s sentiments echo that of Ripple’s co-founder Chris Larsen. Previously, Larsen had criticized the cryptocurrency framework provided by the US Securities and Exchange Commission, saying that it was light years behind China and other countries in terms of providing a clear regulatory framework for cryptocurrencies. Though he shares the same views, Garlinghouse expressed that some beliefs regarding Ripple’s future may have been lost in translation.

Though Ripple Labs has come under US scrutiny for allegedly selling unregistered securities with their cryptocurrency XRP, Ripple has asserted that XRP qualified more as a bridge currency. If XRP was to be considered as a security under US regulation, strict regulatory sanctions could be applied to Ripple.

In clarifying his stance, Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse tweeted:

“Some have suggested Ripple is ‘fleeing’ the US, let me unequivocally say this is absolutely not the case. We’re a proud US-based company and would like to stay here but a lack of regulatory clarity and level playing field is forcing us to evaluate other jurisdictions.”

Ripple CEO also added that under UK’s regulatory guide for cryptocurrencies, Ripple’s XRP token did not qualify as a security, a stance that would be more advantageous for Ripple. He explained to CNBC:

“What you see in the UK is a clear taxonomy, and the UK’s FCA (Financial Conduct Authority) took a leadership role in characterizing how we should think about these different assets and their use cases.”

Garlinghouse added that a potential move to the UK may therefore be greatly beneficial for XRP, since the token would be viewed more as a currency, rather than falling under the same category as stocks, bonds, and securities. He said:

“The outcome of that was clarity that XRP is not a security and is used as a currency. With that clarity, it would be advantageous for Ripple to operate in the UK.”

Singapore’s DBS to launch a digital exchange

The Ripple CEO also disclosed that his blockchain firm was considering Singapore as well, as they provided a great environment for trading various assets, including crypto. He said:

“UK’s FCA and Singapore’s MAS (Monetary Authority of Singapore) have been leaders for years in providing clarity on using/trading assets – no surprise that both countries have traditional FIs (financial institutions) leaning into using this technology. DBS’ (pre) announcement today is a prime example.”

Garlinghouse referred to the recent news that DBS, one of Singapore’s largest retail and commercial banks, has reportedly been considering adding cryptocurrency trading to the expansive list of services it provided. However, shortly after the news that it may be launching cryptocurrency trades, custodial services, as well as offer security token offering services, the announcement was quickly removed from DBS’ website.

Though the announcement was removed, many cryptocurrency investors caught a glimpse of it, and it appears that DBS is planning on offering Bitcoin (BTC), Ether (ETH), XRP, Bitcoin Cash (BCH), and Ethereum Classic (ETC) on its new digital exchange platform. Crypto enthusiast Su Zhu said:

“DBS, the largest retail and commercial bank in Singapore, has soft-launched their crypto/fiat exchange! This will immediately become the easiest on-ramp for those who bank in Singapore.”

Within the removed post, it was also disclosed that on the digital platform DBS was planning on introducing, fiats such as SGD, HKD, JPY, and USD would be among the currencies that could be traded for crypto.

Ripple CEO Says Bitcoin PoW Energy Use Makes Square Target of Biden’s Climate Change Agenda

Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse thinks Bitcoin’s massive energy consumption through proof-of-work (PoW) could make public companies like Square, who invested heavily in BTC, potential targets of US election winner Joe Biden’s climate change agenda. Garlinghouse used the opportunity to highlight XRP’s superior energy efficiency.

President-elect Joe Biden is predicted to realign the United States with the global climate change agenda and could put requirements on public companies to disclose green house gas (GHG) emissions. Ripple’s CEO Garlinghouse took to twitter to single out Square and said Jack Dorsey’s payments company should pay attention after their $50 million dollar BTC investment.

On Monday Nov. 10, Ripple CEO Garlinghouse leant his comments to an earlier tweet from NYT politics that highlighted the incoming president’s previously proposed measure on climate change. The tweet outlined Biden’s promise to rejoin the Paris Agreement, which was snubbed by the Trump administration in 2017.

The Ripple CEO tweeted that President-elect Biden will be much tougher on climate change than Trump and require all public companies to disclose their GHG production. Garlinghouse also singled out Jack Dorsey’s Square, saying the payments firm should pay attention to the new guidelines expected from the Biden administration.

The Ripple CEO said:

“Biden to require public companies to disclose climate change-related activities and GHG emissions in their operations. Love to see the action on climate change – first NYDFS, now this. Public companies holding BTC (ahem Square) — may want to pay attention.”

The power consumption of the Bitcoin proof-of-work (PoW) network has been a huge point of contention for the premier cryptocurrency. In a publication on the Ripple website entitled, “The Environmental Impact: Cryptocurrency Mining vs. Consensus”, Bitcoin’s PoW power consumption is used to highlight the superiority of Ripple’s XRP token.

Ripple compares power usage through light bulbs explaining that every 1 million XRP transactions uses enough power to a lightbulb for 79,000 hours, while 1 million BTC transactions on Bitcoin’s PoW network would power the lightbulb for 4.51 billion hours.

Public Companies Pay Attention

The has been a slew of publicly traded companies that have invested massively into Bitcoin as of late, which according to Garlinghouse may be an issue for them as given the potential incoming green compliance legislation.

Ripple CEO Garlinghouse pointed to Square in his tweet. Last month Jack Dorsey, CEO of Twitter and payments processing service Square, publicly tweeted that Square had invested $50 million of the company’s holdings into Bitcoin purchasing 4,709 BTC.

If Square should take notice of the Biden administration’s incoming plan for climate change, then MicroStrategy who has also purchased 38,250 Bitcoin as its reserve treasury asset—just under $600 million at the time of writing—should definitely sit up and take notice of the Democrat’s green agenda.

Ripple CEO Reveals Missing Key Factor for Crypto and XRP to Be the Infrastructure of the Next Global Financial System

Brad Garlinghouse, Ripple’s CEO, explained what was crucial in the cryptocurrency sector for it to be revamped in a way where it can be integrated into the next global financial system.

Amid the fintech battle between global powerhouses like China and the US to become the one to design the next global financial system, Garlinghouse said that for cryptocurrency to be part of the next financial wave, Know your Customer (KYL) and Anti-Money Laundering (AML) policies need to be part of the equation.

KYL/AML laws, which are the backbone of the current financial system and protects customer transactions, should also be applied for cryptocurrencies. Garlinghouse pinpointed the hypocrisy of the crypto industry when praising traditional institutions on crypto acceptance. In a series of tweets, he said:

“Our industry celebrates when institutions & regulators publicly laud real use cases (ie: SEC, Treasury highlighting using crypto for payments) but balks at the idea that KYC/AML is a fundamental part of a robust financial system that protects consumers from scams/bad actors.”

Garlinghouse said that the end goal was to provide a more inclusive and improved financial system. As the US has been struggling with establishing clear regulations surrounding cryptocurrencies like XRP, it has now been doing baby steps in moving towards better policies for digital assets. This may be inevitable anyways, as the digital wave has taken the world by storm, largely accelerated by the coronavirus pandemic. Garlinghouse said:

“*Reasonable* oversight is necessary if we want crypto to be the infrastructure of the next gen financial system. With potential new US guidance for non-custodial crypto wallets, let’s not forget the end goal – to build a more inclusive & efficient financial system for all.”

The Ripple CEO asserted that an essential part of building a better financial system was to protect consumers. This is when KYC/AML regulations come into play.

KYL/AML regulations for cryptocurrency

While Know Your Customer protocols provide a secure transacting experience through identity verification and risk assessments, Anti-Money Laundering policies are key to preventing financial crimes, fraud, tax evasion, and money laundering.

Garlinghouse has vouched for crypto regulations in the US time and again, hinting that a better framework would enable Ripple’s XRP to thrive in the United States. He now stipulated that KYC and AML protocols needed to be applied to cryptocurrencies for them to be part of the global financial infrastructure. He wrapped up his discourse by saying:

“I’m not against privacy, I’m against bad actors taking advantage of anonymous transactions. I’ve said many, many times before: KYC/AML matter for crypto to move from the fringes to an integral part of our global financial system.”

Previously, Garlinghouse had praised China and said that it was making headways in overtaking the US for establishing the world’s next global financial system. China has fully embraced blockchain and cryptocurrencies, even making active moves to officialize its form of CBDC, dubbed digital currency electronic payment (DCEP).

The lack of crypto regulations and the indecisiveness of US regulators on deciding how to classify Ripple’s XRP may hinder its operations in the United States in the long run.