Ripple Chief Executive Brad Garlinghouse said the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) lawsuit against its encrypted payments firm Ripple Labs Inc. "will have critical implications for the industry," and he expects a ruling on the case this year. Additionally, he said that the SEC’s recent increase in crypto enforcement actions has put the U.S. behind other countries in establishing effective crypto regulation. According to previous news, the SEC sued Ripple at the end of 2020, accusing it of selling XRP as an unregistered security. Subsequently, Ripple Labs stated that the SEC could not prove that the company's sale of XRP was an investment contract.