Ripple shareholder Linqto has filed for bankruptcy protection

On July 8, Cointelegraph reported that private investment platform Linqto filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas on Monday. The company holds approximately 4.70 million Ripple shares purchased on the secondary market, estimated to be worth approximately $450.0-500.0 million at current market values. Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse has clarified that the two companies have never had a business relationship, other than Linqto being a shareholder. According to court documents, Linqto is in trouble for violating securities regulations, including improperly structuring its limited liability company and failing to obtain transfer permits from issuers such as Ripple. Previous reports indicated that former Linqto CEO William Sarris attempted to sell Ripple shares to users at a 60% premium over the purchase price, violating the SEC's rule that markups may not exceed 10%. The company closed its platform on March 13 of this year and faces ongoing SEC investigation. [Deep Tide TechFlow]