The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and Ripple lawsuit continues to drag on even as developments from the courtroom battle intensify, fueling the argument that the agency has no case against the blockchain company.
Ripple and XRP propped up by Community as they push against SEC’s scheme
Observers have noted that closing the books on the matter will allow the cryptocurrency to again focus its efforts on becoming a more widely used asset with more excellent utility.
The SEC’s war on the crypto industry often draws a lot of criticism towards the regulator as they are seen as stifling innovation in the industry with their antics. These criticisms were most recent from the U.S. senate.
During SEC chair Gary Gensler’s Senate Banking Committee hearing appearance, the regulator came under fire from Republican Senators who denounced the commission’s plans for the cryptocurrency industry and other industries under their purview.
Some argue that the SEC is not transparent to market participants by not explicitly disclosing whether a digital asset is a security or not. The most vocal critics were Senator Pat Toomey (R-PA), who called out Gensler to regulate digital tokens through enforcement. The comments also alluded to the SEC’s move against Coinbase.
As AZCoin News reported, Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong responded to planned enforcement by the SEC about the firm’s recently announced yield-generating product. This action by the SEC comes as they are still facing a lawsuit with Ripple.
Gensler said he thinks only specific cryptocurrencies do not need to be registered with the SEC because they are not securities. That extra stablecoin can also be considered a security.
Following the Senate exchange, Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse has again called out the regulatory watchdog for its contradictory claims concerning the cryptocurrency industry. He pointed out that Gensler continues to insist that the laws regulating the industry were clear, yet he is asking the senate to write laws to clarify what was already clear.
“Chair Gensler insisted (again) in today’s testimony that the securities laws are clear and easily understandable for the crypto market…and then turned around and said Congress needs to write laws to clarify. So which one is it? Thank you, Sen. Toomey, for being a voice of reason”, he stated.
The CEO of Ripple and a member of the Board of Directors, Brad Garlinghouse
Garlinghouse has hinted that the company was gaining supporters among pro-innovation members of Congress who were working to pave a path to clarity and certainty with US regulators for the industry.
Elsewhere, Stuart Alderoty, the General Council for Ripple, also argued that the SEC has consistently treated the industry with harsh enforcement actions and threats rather than providing clarity in contradiction to their calls for the industry to engage the commission in good faith.
In addition, there has been strong community support for the company in the legal battle. The company’s supporters, known as the XRP Army, have even stepped up legal action against the agency. They filed a lawsuit led by Attorney John Deaton in March to determine that neither party to the case represented the interests of XRP investors.
Recently, it was rumored that Coinbase would rely on XRP on the crypto exchange. Although Coinbase denied the rumors, they have yet to walk away as the community continues to speculate that the SEC’s recent move against Coinbase has put the two companies on the same side.
Read more:
- Active XRP Wallet Addresses Increased By Over 200% In Past Three Months, Whale Keeps Accumulating
- Ripple Has No Plans To Settle With SEC Over A Lawsuit On XRP