Ripple General Counsel Says SEC’s Gensler Can’t Appoint Himself Crypto Cop

The US government’s approach to crypto regulation has been a combination of neglect and “regulation by enforcement” overreach. It has failed to provide a clear framework leading to investor uncertainty, while at the same time cracking down randomly and asserting the power to regulate where none was legislatively authorized.

Nowhere is this more apparent than with the US Securities and Exchange Commission, which impedes the emerging market growth, said Stuart Alderoty, general counsel for Ripple, in a livestream with Politico. The SEC, he charges, is driven by power and politics, not sound policy.

(SEC Chair Gary) Gensler had claimed that Bitcoin is the only cryptocurrency he believes to be out of the SEC’s jurisdiction. Thus, suggesting that all crypto assets aside from Bitcoin are security and should be regulated by the agency.

Responding to these claims, Alderoty said he is unaware of any election in the crypto space that resulted in the appointment of the SEC as the cop on the beat for crypto.

“Well, I don’t remember anyone holding an election for the cop on the beat for crypto. I don’t remember Congress appointing Gary Gensler as the cop on the beat for crypto.” Alderoty said, “You [Gensler] cannot self-appoint yourself as the cop on the beat for crypto.” 

Alderoty said the United States crypto space had faced regulatory uncertainty for years compared to other sophisticated economic centers like Singapore, the United Kingdom, and Dubai.

The Ripple General Counsel added that the United States has been promoting politics and power over sound policies via the SEC, which has continued to hurt innovators, entrepreneurs, and retail investors.

“What we’re doing here in the U.S., I think principally through the SEC as an institution, is that we’re elevating politics and power over sound policy. Doing this, you’re not only hurting innovation, innovators, and entrepreneurs like Ripple, you’re also hurting the retail holders of these assets because one in five Americans own or have interacted with cryptos,” Alderoty said.