On March 7, U.S. President Donald Trump hosted the first-ever crypto summit at the White House, inviting the who’s who of this niche industry. Among the handful of invitees was 54-year-old Brad Garlinghouse, the CEO of Ripple Labs, a web3 giant in the U.S. whose fortunes have changed ever since Trump won the U.S. elections.
Both Ripple Labs and their native token, XRP, have received several positive developments in the first quarter of 2025. Be it the positive adoption of XRP or its inclusion in the U.S. strategic crypto reserve as the top five cryptocurrencies.
However, the biggest relief came for Brad in the form of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) dropping its lawsuit against Ripple, thereby classifying XRP as “not securities.” That night, he indeed slept peacefully after countering a tedious lawsuit with the SEC for four years.
Once written off, both XRP and Brad have made a remarkable comeback in the crypto industry in 2025, with analysts predicting a brighter future for Ripple Labs.
Who is Brad Garlinghouse, the powerhouse behind XRP?
Anybody who is in the world of cryptocurrency is familiar with the name Brad Garlinghouse, the pioneer of the Fintech industry and the CEO of Ripple Labs.
Born on 06th February 1971, Brad is 54 years old. Notably, he hails from Topeka, Kansas, in the United States of America (USA). Furthermore, he has one sibling and 3 kids as per the official data. After graduating from the University of Kansas, he completed his master’s from Harvard Business School. As of today, Brad is a software engineer and a businessman by profession.
Brad Garlinghouse and Ripple Labs
Appointed as the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Ripple Labs in 2014, Brad, with his exceptional skills redefined the future of the company. Under his leadership, the firm has completed 7 rounds of funding between 2014 and 2019. Through these rounds, Ripple Labs has raised a total of $296 million involving a total of 26 different venture capitals.
While Ripple Labs native token “XRP” has an all-time low (ATL) of $0.0028 that was recorded on 07th July 2014, Brad’s dedication and loyalty to the firm resulted in this altcoin achieving an all-time high (ATH) of $3.89 on 04th January 2018, a surge of 138,828.6% in under 4 years.
Coming to the latest update, the RLUSD was a total success, and this resulted in the price of the XRP token experiencing a major price rally. Moreover, XRP made the headlines after successfully reclaiming the $1 mark for the first time since November 2021.
As a matter of fact, the XRP token is one of the only 3 cryptocurrencies that has never dropped below the 7th position since inception. However, the situation took a drastic turn after the SEC filed a lawsuit against Ripple Labs.
The Ripple vs. SEC Lawsuit!
Legally filed the case in 2020, the SEC under President Biden regime challenged XRP’s claim as a security. Following this, the XRP vs SEC news was the most searched crypto-related thing on the internet. Active for over 4 years, this case is now considered to be the longest-ever cryptocurrency-related battle.
Moving forward to 2023, the court initially ruled XRP as not a security. However, Gary Gensler-led SEC immediately filed for an appeal against the ruling and insisted on reviewing the decision. As per the official reports published in June 2024, Ripple Labs had spent over $100 million defending itself from the SEC.
Conclusion
After fighting an intense battle for over 4 years and multiple appeals, the XRP community has finally won and so has Brad. However, Brad always maintained his calmness and tackled all the hurdles with systematic strategy and transparency. With his belief in the technology behind the blockchain and Web3 universe, Brad, with his impressive advocacy skills, made this cross-border technology regain its lost status in the cryptocurrency world.
