Ripple Labs CEO has warned of damage to the crypto industry if the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) succeeds in its lawsuit against Ripple for xrp. He warned that the SEC’s enforcement-centric approach to regulating crypto “is not a sound way to regulate an industry.”
Ripple CEO on SEC Lawsuit, US Crypto Regulation
Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse has warned of dire consequences for the crypto industry if the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) wins its lawsuit against him and his company over the sale of XRP in an interview with Bloomberg on Thursday.
“The SEC suing Ripple wasn’t really about Ripple or XRP – it’s really about the industry,” Garlinghouse began. Stating that the SEC is “going on the offensive and attacking” the entire crypto industry, Ripple’s CEO pointed out:
This is going to be crucial for the whole industry.
He further warned that “if the SEC is able to prevail” in its lawsuit against XRP, more enforcement will be brought against crypto firms. The securities watchdog recently took action against Kraken over the cryptocurrency exchange’s staking program and Paxos over its Binance USD (BUSD) stablecoin issuance. Additionally, SEC Chairman Gary Gensler believes that all crypto tokens other than bitcoin (BTC) are securities.
Citing the SEC’s enforcement-centric approach to regulating the crypto industry, Garlinghouse said:
The headline for me is that this is not a healthy way to regulate an industry.
The Ripple executive went on to explain that the SEC’s focus on enforcement differs from other countries’ regulatory approaches when it comes to cryptocurrencies.
“We see in other countries where they do the job properly. They code. They create a framework that allows an industry to grow while protecting consumers,” Garlinghouse detailed, adding:
I think that’s really what the United States is lagging behind.
Noting that many crypto companies are already moving overseas, Garlinghouse pointed out, “The sad reality is that the United States is really already behind… It’s not behind countries that we don’t have. not necessarily heard of. It’s behind Australia, and behind the UK, Japan, Singapore, Switzerland. There are many countries that have taken the time and thought to create these clear rules of conduct. »
Garlinghouse explained that when he first got involved in the tech industry in the late 1990s, “some said the internet should be banned.” He continued, “They were saying how the internet was being used for illicit purposes, but the US government said, ‘no, no, no, we’re going to create a framework.’ And that allowed entrepreneurs, investors to come in and look at the benefits for the United States on a geopolitical basis.
Noting that the US risks missing out on the “next evolution of technology around blockchain and crypto,” the Ripple boss warned:
Consumers suffer…because you don’t have the same protections that the US regulatory framework can provide.
Ripple’s CEO previously expressed his optimism regarding the XRP lawsuit. The securities regulator sued him and his company in December 2020, alleging that the sale of XRP was an unregistered securities offering. Garlinghouse argued that XRP is not a security, anticipating a resolution to the case this year, potentially within the first six months.
Do you agree with Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse on SEC and US crypto regulation? Let us know in the comments section below.
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