Blockchain company Ripple's legal battle with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is set to cost the firm around $200 million, Cointelegraph reported Monday, citing the Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse.

Garlinghouse reportedly told onlookers at the Dubai Fintech Summit that he would not advise crypto entrepreneurs to set up in the U.S., adding that the country puts politics ahead of policy.

Ripple, along with several of its executives, was sued by the securities regulator in 2020 over the unregistered sale of XRP tokens worth around $1.3 billion. The same year, the firm opened its regional headquarters in Dubai.

Since the collapse of crypto exchange FTX last year, the SEC has cracked down on some of the biggest players in the industry over violations of federal securities laws – although it recently pulled back from officially defining "digital assets."

Ripple has historically kept its distance from XRP, which powers some of Ripple’s products.

A judgement on the SEC case is expected in the next three to six weeks, according to the report. Hopes that the lawsuit would go in Ripple's favor caused the XRP token price to surge in March.

Regulations SEC Ripple XRP Lawsuit

Sandali Handagama

Sandali Handagama is CoinDesk's deputy managing editor for policy and regulations, EMEA. She is an alumna of Columbia University's graduate school of journalism and has contributed to a variety of publications including The Guardian, Bloomberg, The Nation and Popular Science. Sandali doesn't own any crypto and she tweets as @iamsandali