Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse is in the news today after he tweeted about the state of the crypto-industry in the United States. According to the exec, the industry needs to rebuild trust through utility and transparency.
Garlinghouse claimed that the industry must work together to move forward and bridge the aforementioned trust deficit. To make his point, he cited FTX and Terra as examples of companies that shattered trust in cryptocurrencies
That being said, the exec did claim that the crypto-industry is facing significant headwinds, such as the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) waging war on cryptocurrencies. In fact, Garlinghouse criticized SEC Chair Gary Gensler’s call for crypto-firms to register, claiming that no infrastructure is in place for a “registered token” to trade and that there is no clarity on what these tokens are.
Ripple’s CEO also urged U.S authorities to properly regulate the industry, noting that many other G20 countries are already developing frameworks and providing guidance. As an example, he cited the EU’s markets in crypto-assets (MiCA) regulations.
SEC v. Ripple still in progress
Garlinghouse also took the opportunity to take a dig at the SEC. Referring to Judge Analisa Torres’ latest ruling in the SEC’s case against Ripple, the firm’s CEO wrote,
“It’s only Tuesday, but shaping up to be a not-so-great week for the SEC (this ruling, Voyager, Grayscale).”
Additionally, according to Ripple General Counsel Stuart Alderoty, the blockchain payments company’s confidence is growing with each ruling in its legal battle against the SEC. For the time being, it appears that the SEC’s arguments that XRP is a security have suffered significant setbacks.
While the SEC has increased its crypto-enforcement actions in what appears to be an attempt to establish a stranglehold on the nascent market, recent trends show that industry participants are having their voices heard in court. The SEC investigation into whether XRP is a security has been going on for over two years now.
The SEC has recently stepped up its campaign against unregistered securities, claiming that they put investors in dangerous situations due to a lack of transparency.
The regulatory body last month penalized Kraken with a $30 million settlement, forcing it to end its crypto-staking program. The SEC has also warned Paxos of its plans to sue them for issuing Binance USD (BUSD). According to the SEC, BUSD is an unregistered security.