Brad Garlinghouse, the CEO of Ripple Labs, criticized The New York Times (NYT), accusing it of being unfair and spreading misleading information about the crypto industry. His reaction came after an NYT report claimed that under former President Donald Trump’s administration, the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) reduced its enforcement actions against cryptocurrency-related cases.
Brad Garlinghouse, who leads Ripple, a company that specializes in blockchain and cryptocurrency solutions, expressed his views on X (formerly Twitter). He called the article published by the NYT “another crypto hit piece.” This means he believes the report was intentionally written to criticize the crypto industry. He claimed the article repeated old, negative opinions about crypto while ignoring significant court decisions that questioned the SEC’s methods during President Joe Biden’s administration. Garlinghouse went further to say that the NYT used “half-truths” and left out important details, accusing it of supporting what he called an “illegal War on Crypto.”
“False and Failed Narrative”
Garlinghouse pointed out specific flaws in the NYT report. He mentioned that the article did not highlight key moments where federal judges had openly criticized the SEC’s actions. For instance, US Magistrate Judge Sarah Netburn noted that the SEC’s leadership appeared to have failed in their duty to follow the law faithfully. Additionally, another judge described some of the SEC’s actions as “arbitrary and capricious,” meaning they seemed random or without proper reason. A third judge even fined the SEC for giving incorrect information to the court.
According to Garlinghouse, the NYT avoided discussing these crucial court judgments. He also questioned why the newspaper did not report on how aggressively the SEC had pursued crypto companies, including Ripple, during President Biden’s administration. He criticized the publication for pushing what he called a “false and failed narrative.” In his words, he stated, “This is not journalism.”
The NYT Report Findings
The criticisms from Garlinghouse were directed at a specific NYT investigation published on December 14. This report claimed that since Donald Trump returned to office, the SEC has stepped back from handling more than 60% of its ongoing cryptocurrency cases. According to the report, the SEC either paused its lawsuits, reduced penalties, or dismissed some cases entirely. The report also pointed out that some of the companies that benefited from these changes, including Ripple, had either financial or political connections to former President Trump.
Although the NYT report found no evidence of direct interference from Trump or improper influence by these companies, it highlighted certain incidents. For example, in Ripple’s case, the SEC attempted to reduce the penalty imposed by a court from $125 million to $50 million. However, this reduction was later rejected by a judge.
Further Criticism of NYT Coverage
Garlinghouse wasn’t the only one critical of the NYT’s article. Alex Thorn, who leads research at Galaxy Digital (a company that focuses on digital assets and cryptocurrency), also shared his concerns. Thorn argued that the NYT’s report was misleading from the start. He claimed the article incorrectly treated the Biden administration’s strict stance on crypto as normal when, in reality, it was overly harsh.
Thorn also disagreed with the suggestion that regulatory changes under Trump were due to personal crypto interests. He said, “This type of reporting relies on the readership being uninformed, which, unfortunately, too many are.” Thorn suggested that the NYT’s report took advantage of a phenomenon called the Gell-Mann Amnesia effect. This effect refers to how people tend to trust media coverage that they are not familiar with, even if they know the media has been inaccurate in other areas. He humorously added that the newspaper was encouraging “crypto dementia,” a term he coined to highlight misinformation about the cryptocurrency space.
The original story and its critiques have sparked significant debate in the crypto community about how media outlets report on this growing industry and how regulatory practices affect it.