Ripple CEO Denies Troubled Investment Firm Linqto Ever Bought Ripple Shares Directly

 Brad Garlinghouse, the Ripple chief executive officer, has stepped in to set things straight about the allegedly direct business relations between Ripple and investment firm Linqto, which has been under fire from regulators and might file for bankruptcy soon.

Garlinghouse was not the only one who has commented on this situation recently — Ripple CTO David Schwartz and a famous Ripple advocate John Deaton have also shared their takes on this issue.

Ripple CEO’s clarification of Linqto issue

Brad Garlinghouse admitted that there have been many questions from investors “who believed they were buying Ripple shares from Linqto.” It is currently under federal investigation and might have to file for bankruptcy, according to a recently published Wall Street Journal article — this is what the Ripple CEO cited in his tweet.

Garlinghouse said that from what he knows, Linqto indeed owns 4.7 million pre-IPO shares of Ripple, which were acquired by the firm on the secondary market “from other Ripple shareholders.” He stressed that Ripple has never sold its shares to Linqto directly.

He also underscored that “Ripple has never had a business relationship with Linqto,” and the firm never took part in Ripple’s financing rounds. The CEO said that Ripple stopped approving Linqto from buying more of its shares on secondary markets at the end of last year for the reason of “growing skepticism.”

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John Deaton’s comment about Linqto

The first launched in 2017, allowing retail investors to buy pre-IPO shares of companies. It attracted more than half a billion in investments. Still, its aggressive marketing campaigns concerned regulators, raising multiple red flags.

The company has been accused of pervasive securities law violations and selling stock to uncredited investors, attracting the attention of the SEC.

When commenting on this situation, John Deaton wrote that the “SEC Enforcement Division is heavily involved.” He also explained that Linqto sold not pre-IPO shares of Ripple but rather “shares/units of a Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) in Ripple.” Of the firm’s 13,000 customers, 11,500 bought those SPVs, thinking they were acquiring Ripple shares.

“4-5,000 of those SPV Ripple investors are non-accredited, which makes this a regulatory compliance nightmare,” Deaton concluded.