Harvard MBA & Judgment Day tattoo — Ripple CEO is '1000%' bullish on XRP originally appeared on TheStreet.

Ripple Labs is one of the most prominent blockchain tech and crypto payments companies in the world.

Founded in 2012, the company is helmed by CEO Brad Garlinghouse who earned an MBA degree from Harvard University and worked at tech giants such as Yahoo and AOL before joining the fintech firm.

Recently, a popular crypto X account, @digitalassetbuy, underlined that when someone like Garlinghouse holding a Harvard MBA gets a tattoo after 50, it shows confidence in the future:

"LOCK IN! @bgarlinghouse has ZERO DOUBT!"

The Ripple CEO responded, "1000%."

The tattoo being discussed was first revealed by Garlinghouse back in September 2023, which showed the XRP icon along with a landmark date, 07-13-2023, tattooed on his arm.

To understand the significance of the tattoo, one needs to go back to one of the most controversial legal cases in the history of the crypto industry.

As reported earlier, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) sued Ripple in December 2020 for alleged securities violations.

The case reached a landmark moment on July 13, 2023, when the court ruled that Ripple selling XRP tokens to institutional investors violated securities laws, but their sale to retail investors didn't.

In August 2024, the court penalized Ripple more than $125 million.

Later, both the SEC and the firm filed a joint settlement letter in May 2025 and have since requested the court to slash the penalty to $50 million and vacate the August 2024 ruling.

The court has since declined to issue an indicative ruling, with Garlinghouse announcing that Ripple was dropping its cross-appeal, and the SEC is also expected to drop their appeal.

The crypto community has been awaiting the fate of the much-contentious case for years now.

As per Kraken, XRP was trading at $2.18 at press time.

Harvard MBA & Judgment Day tattoo — Ripple CEO is '1000%' bullish on XRP first appeared on TheStreet on Jun 30, 2025

This story was originally reported by TheStreet on Jun 30, 2025, where it first appeared.