Ripple (XRP) founder slams US SEC over its crypto ‘clarity’ ๐จ This article is 3 years old...
Ripple (XRP) founder slams US SEC over its crypto ‘clarity’
Brad Garlinghouse compared the SECโs stance on regulatory clarity on crypto to an alcoholic denying to have a drinking problem.ย
2 min read
Updated: Aug. 7, 2021 at 11:29 am UTC
Cover art/illustration via CryptoSlate. Image includes combined content which may include AI-generated content.
Earlier this week at the Aspen Security Forum, an annual three-day conference for global leaders to discuss some of the key national security issues, Rippleโs CEO Brad Garlinghouse addressed the lack of clarity surrounding the crypto industry and its regulation in the US.
Garlinghouse, who commented on the Security and Exchange Commission (SEC) Chair Gary Genslerโs discussion on the matter, which took part earlier in the conference, is personally a defendant in the ongoing court case filed by the agency, alleging that Rippleโs sale of XRP was unregistered security offering worth more than $1.38 billion.
Elephant in the room
โIn my judgment, if youโre dealing with an alcoholic that doesnโt want to admit they have an alcohol problem, to say that we have certainty, we have clarity, is like the alcoholic saying โI donโt have a problemโ. This is the elephant in the room,โ said Garlinghouse.
โFor years I think the crypto industry has asked for that clarity, and yesterday we heard โit is clear,โ added Rippleโs CEO, mentioning a recent paradox when two SEC commissioners stated โa decided lack of clarity for market participants around the application of the securities laws to digital assets and their trading.’โ
He reflected on other G20 markets like the UK, Japan, Switzerland, and Singapore โwho have been proactive and engagedโ and pointed out that addressing the regulatory clarity issue is a prerequisite for the US if it wants to be a leader in the crypto space.
โBeing a company based here in the US, I want to see the US thrive in this area. I want to work with the US government to provide clarity, to provide certainty. But trying to provide that clarity through enforcement action is not, I think, the right answer,โ said Garlinghouse, whose company kept expanding abroad, while its advancement in the homefront was halted by the lawsuit.
Regulation through litigationย
When asked about โthe timing of clarity on crypto regulation,โ Gensler answered that the agency has been โawfully clear on a bunch of this stuff,โ adding that the SEC has brought 75 cases in the sector.
Later in the conference, Garlinghouse took the opportunity to point out that 37 of those cases did not involve the sale of digital assets, and another 37 cases were initial coin offerings (ICOs), many of which were frauds.
โOnly one of the 75 involves a digital asset outside of an ICO. And for obvious reasons, Iโm not going to talk too much about that case,โ he said as the โoutlierโ case was brought against Ripple.
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Theย XRP Ledgerย is a decentralized cryptographic ledger powered by a network of peer-to-peer servers.
Ripple
Ripple is a US-based technology company which develops the Ripple payment protocol and exchange network using XRP, the digital asset native to the XRP Ledger.
Brad Garlinghouse stands at the forefront of financial technology as the CEO of Ripple.