Ripple settles legal dispute with Youtube over XRP scam suit

Ripple’s CEO Brad Garlinghouse announced on March 10 in a series of tweets on his official Twitter account that the legal dispute with Youtube was officially settled and the social platform has acknowledged their role in crypto scams.

‘Social Platforms are starting to acknowledge their role in allowing crypto scams to persist and recognize the need to be part of the solution,’ he said, also adding that there are some like XRP forensics that are helping to detect and track the stolen cryptocurrencies.

However, Garlinghouse said that there is still a need for platforms to lead the charge.

‘This is indicative of an industry-wide problem of a lack of accountability. Victims are forced to jump through hoops to report these scams, and oftentimes that doesn’t work,’ Garlinghouse stated. Ripple’s CEO refused to share any more details about the resolution saying that it is confidential.

Last April 2020, Ripple sued Youtube for its negligence in handling the scam accounts that impersonated Garlinghouse. The fake accounts offered XRP giveaways in exchange for a small initial payment, a scam promotion that led to thousands of stolen XRP, with a single instance reportedly reaching up to $15,000.

The complaint that Ripple filed against Youtube in the U.S. district court in Northern California claimed that Ripple faced irreparable damage to its reputation and brand image because of the video platform’s negligence.

The cryptocurrency company even stated that the damage done to Ripple is the ‘direct consequence of Youtube’s deliberate and inexplicable failure to address a pervasive and injurious fraud occurring on its platform.’

Garlinghouse became vocal regarding the issue, stating that he is taking legal action against Youtube and claiming that the video platform is the epicentre for impostor scams, even providing examples of scammers using his name to attract people to participate in several giveaway scams.

He claimed in the complaint that the video platform tolerated the scammers who violated the trademark rights of Ripple.

However, in November 2020, the court of Northern California responded by granting Youtube’s motion to dismiss the case that Ripple filed for the alleged trademark infringement.