Garlinghouse noted that at some point, the SEC will need to appoint a new chief to serve the American people better.
In response to recent developments in the crypto industry, Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse expressed strong criticism towards the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), labeling SEC Chairman Gary Gensler as a “political liability,” CNBC reported on Tuesday.
Brad Garlinghouse contends that the SEC’s choice of regulating the industry through enforcement does not align with the interests of American citizens or the long-term growth of the emerging economy.
“I do think the chair of the SEC, Gary Gensler, is a political liability in the United States. And I think he’s not acting in the interests of the citizenry, he’s not acting in the interests of the long-term growth of the economy, and I don’t understand that,” Garlinghouse said.”
SEC Chair Not Serving Americans Well
Ripple CEO also noted that at some point, the SEC will need to appoint a new chief to serve the American people better. He suggested that such a change could bring positive developments to the industry.
With its decision to regulate the industry through enforcement, the SEC has brought a series of high-profile legal actions against many crypto companies such as Ripple. The blockchain payment firm has been in a legal battle with the financial watchdog since 2020 over the sale of its XRP tokens in the US and alleged violations of federal securities rules by two of the company’s executives.
However, the regulator later dropped its charges against the Ripple executives and continued its claim that XRP has security attributes. Last year, US Judge Analisa Torres ruled that XRP is not security, giving Ripple its first major victory in the ongoing case after two years of a prolonged legal battle.
Going in Circles
As the case is in the remedies phase, the financial regulator filed a motion to compel Ripple to produce financial statements and information regarding institutional XRP sales.
Earlier, financial analyst and prominent XRP proponent Zach Rector suggested that Ripple could pay a hefty fine of up to $3 billion if the judge ruled that XRP On-Demand Liquidity (ODL)-related sales are securities.
In addition to Ripple, the SEC has also brought legal actions against companies like Binance, Coinbase, Kraken, and Gemini for selling unregistered securities in the US market without authorization.
Garlinghouse believes the SEC is repeating the same actions and going in circles, hoping to win the court when all it has done is fail. “One of the definitions of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different outcome. Gary Gensler is doing the same thing over and over again, and he thinks that somehow he’s going to win in court. He has continued to lose in court,” said he.
Garlinghouse is also slated to speak on the topic “Crypto at a Crossroads: Future-proofing Digital Assets” with the Commodities Future Trade Commission (CFTC) ‘s commissioner Caroline Pham later today at Bloomberg House in Davos for the LFG event this year.
Read More: Davos 2024: Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse Calls SEC Chair Gary Gensler ‘Political