SEC amends complaint against Ripple, slams execs for manipulating XRP market

In a rather interesting twist of the SEC’s battle with Ripple, the U.S. financial watchdog has amended its complaint against the blockchain firm.

It appears the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is all out to draw blood from Ripple and its founders. In December, the Commission sued Ripple Inc. along with two of its executives for selling unlicensed securities. As reported by BTC PEERS, both parties confirmed on Monday that there was no prospect for a pretrial settlement.

That being said, the SEC has filed an amended lawsuit against Ripple, ex-CEO Chris Larsen, and CEO Brad Garlinghouse.

The amended complaint provides more factual information on how Ripple’s execs played a “significant role” in selling unregistered tokens. The SEC claims that the execs adjusted sales figures to manipulate the XRP’s performance. They said:

Similarly, in April 2016, the CFO emailed Larsen and Garlinghouse regarding continued “downward pressure on the price of XRP” and suggested having the Market Maker “adjust down a bit our net sell target for a few days to see if we can help stabilize and/or increase the XRP price.” Larsen responded, “Yes – let’s adjust,” while Garlinghouse stated that he was “in favor of” adjustment but was “marginally inclined to be more aggressive when we do this.

Furthermore, Garlinghouse made cajoled exchanges into listing XRP by offering incentives with “minimum monthly guarantees.”

Check our guide of the most promising crypto