Ripple’s General Counsel Slams SEC’s Regulatory Approach, Calls for «Sensible Cryptocurrency Regulation From Washington»

Stuart Alderoty, the General Counsel at Ripple, has once again slammed the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) for its cryptocurrency regulation stance.

According to Alderoty, recent events in the Ripple vs. SEC lawsuit, as well as comments from Rep. Brad Sherman (D-California), suggest that there is a need for sensible cryptocurrency regulation from Washington. 

“Rather than provide regulatory clarity through rulemaking, the SEC seeks to bully the market by filing or threatening to file, enforcement cases. Unproven allegations masquerading as regulation is bad policy that hurts consumers and markets who are whipsawed by the whims of an unchecked regulator,” Alderoty said in a RealClearMarkets blog post. 

Rep. Sherman’s Comment On XRP 

During an oversight hearing of the SEC’s Enforcement Division held last week by the House Financial Services Subcommittee, Rep. Sherman said XRP is a security. 

The congressman subsequently urged the commission to go after cryptocurrency exchanges that facilitated XRP trading in the United States. 

Rep. Sherman’s comment angered several Ripple executives, including Alderoty and Brad Garlinghouse. 

Ripple CEO, Garlinghouse, noted that Rep. Sherman has good legal knowledge to know that only the court has the power to classify XRP as a security. 

However, Rep. Sherman decided to advance a political agenda over sound policy, Ripple CEO added. 

Need for Sensible Crypto Regulations

“Despite the norm that ongoing enforcement cases are not discussed at these hearings, Subcommittee Chairman Representative Brad Sherman took it upon himself to put his thumb on the scale of the largest enforcement case in crypto: SEC vs. Ripple,” Alderoty said. 

Per Alderoty, the off-base remark from the congressman confirms that U.S. policymakers need to establish sensible regulations for the country’s cryptocurrency space.  

“This is all precisely why Congress needs to fix this mess and provide a comprehensive legislative framework for crypto,” he said. 

Meanwhile, Rep. Sherman debunked a FOX Business report on the issue, saying that his comments were mistaken. 

He noted that aside from the subcommittee event, he has never spoken about Ripple with any SEC official. The congressman noted that he sometimes discusses cryptocurrency in general with SEC Chair Gary Gensler. 

Source