Ripple CEO Slams SEC for ‘Regulation by Enforcement’ Approach
- Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse said that the SEC’s approach to crypto is harming retail investors.
- He condemned the regulator’s “regulation by enforcement” approach, adding that it was bad for the industry.
- He said that the SEC “created this mess by proclaiming it was the cop on the crypto beat when it had no legal jurisdiction.”
- The agency’s actions have resulted in “consumers left holding the bag in bankruptcy court while the SEC holds press conferences.”
The Chief Executive Officer at Ripple, an American cross-border payments company, Brad Garlinghouse, has slammed the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) for its “regulation by enforcement” approach to the digital asset industry. The regulator has filed lawsuits against all the major crypto firms and their executives that have either operated or are currently operating in the US, including Binance, Coinbase, and Kraken.
Ripple’s CEO said in a July 23 post on social media platform Twitter that the agency’s method of enforcing regulations after legal actions is harming retail investors in the crypto market. He said that the regulator “created this mess by proclaiming it was the cop on the crypto beat when it had no legal jurisdiction.”
He added that because of the mess created by the regulator in the crypto sector, “consumers are left holding the bag in bankruptcy court while the SEC holds press conferences.”
Additionally, he also talked about the recent comments from SEC lawyers regarding the possibility of appealing the ruling by Judge Analisa Torres in the Ripple vs. SEC lawsuit over the sale of XRP tokens. The judge said that the XRP token is not a security when sold to retail investors, but it is a security when sold to institutions. Meanwhile, the SEC believes every crypto asset except Bitcoin (BTC) is a security.
“It’s absurd to blame a Judge for faithfully applying the law. We all know legislation – not more regulation by enforcement – is the only way forward to provide clear rules and protect retail,” said the Ripple CEO.
After a partial win against the SEC on July 13, Ripple’s CEO stated that the SEC acted in “bad faith, plain and simple.” He added that the battle for regulatory clarity in the crypto space “has to continue,” while claiming that the regulatory authority deliberately caused confusion in the industry.
According to a previous report from Bitnation, last month SEC enforcement director Gurbir Grewal stated that the agency had to “change strategies” to regulate crypto. He said that placing rules for crypto firms to follow was not fruitful, as the industry is built around noncompliance. “Typically, you’d also see compliance, but we’re not seeing that in this space, so we had to change strategies,” Grewal said.
A crypto journalist with over 3 years of experience in DeFi, NFT, metaverse, etc. Parth has worked with major media outlets in the crypto and finance world and has gained experience and expertise in crypto culture after surviving bear and bull markets over the years.
