Ripple (XRP) CEO Brad Garlinhouse criticized the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) chair Gary Gensler's “stunning hypocrisy” in a Dec. 22 post on social media platform X.
Garlinghouse's comments stem from Gensler's recent statements about widespread noncompliance in the crypto industry. The regulator emphasized the detrimental impact of these actions on individuals, often leading to bankruptcy without adequate recourse.
Gensler said:
“There is a lot of noncompliance in the crypto space. It undermines confidence when so many people have been hurt and all they can do is stand in line in the bankruptcy court. Further, this can make it hard for the good faith actors to compete.”
In response, Garlinghouse accused Gensler of being hypocritical, pointing out that the SEC chief “cozied up to the biggest fraud in recent memory.”
He also furthered that Gensler's actions have harmed consumers and eroded the SEC's integrity while maintaining close ties with Wall Street.
Meanwhile, this isn't the first instance of Garlinghouse's critique of Gensler. In earlier remarks, he likened Gensler's approach to that of an autocrat and urged Congress to take note of his conduct.
Gensler's crypto stance
However, Chair Gensler has consistently defended his stance that the current securities laws are sufficient for the crypto industry, a position reflected in the SEC's rejection of Coinbase's request for new regulations.
Under Gensler, the Commission has filed several legal actions against major crypto firms like Coinbase and Binance, alleging that their operations violated securities law. Additionally, the regulator has labeled several large-cap cryptocurrencies, like Solana, Cardano, and Polygon, as crypto securities tokens in many of its legal actions.
Community members lampoon SEC
Expressing solidarity with Garlinghouse's sentiments, the broader crypto community has deemed Gensler a primary adversary of the emerging industry.
Gensler’s strict regulatory approach towards the crypto industry has drawn criticism from stakeholders who have highlighted how the SEC was stretching decades-old securities laws to emerging crypto finance models like decentralized autonomous organizations (DAOs) and decentralized finance (DeFi) protocols.
Notably, figures like Dogecoin founder Billy Markus have echoed these concerns, highlighting the absence of clear rules for the emerging sector.
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