Ripple's Chief Legal Officer Takes a Jab at SEC Chair Gary Gensler

Grayscale and Binance Criticize SEC Amid Heightened Regulatory Scrutin

As the regulatory scrutiny on crypto businesses 

from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) increases

, verbal attacks on the agency have become rampant. 

Grayscale and Binance executives have been engaging in sharp criticism of SEC Chair Gary Gensler. Ripple, the company currently fighting the SEC in the XRP lawsuit, is involved in a slightly different debate, centered around the question of whether XRP is a security or not.

The debate around XRP not being security has arisen again in the wake of Coinbase’s formal response to the SEC’s Wells notice. Coinbase has stated that the platform has followed the securities laws in its United States operations. According to the XRP community, Coinbase's formal response to the SEC's Wells notice suggests that XRP was not traded as a security before it was delisted in 2020. 

In response to Gensler's statement about crypto platforms having to comply with securities laws and register with the SEC, Stuart Alderoty, the Chief Legal Officer at Ripple, posted a reply. He posted a hilarious image of an entangled goldfish in the waters, likening the SEC’s stance of controlling it in the instance of the SEC supervising animal control. The image was a sarcastic commentary on the SEC's approach to regulating the crypto industry.

The XRP Vs SEC lawsuit is still ongoing, with expectations that Ripple will win the case. A Summary Judgement is still awaited, and if the court rules in favor of Ripple, it will be a significant blow to the SEC's stance on cryptocurrency. XRP's status as a security will be challenged, and it may pave the way for other cryptocurrencies to follow suit.

The ongoing debates and lawsuits highlight the challenges that the crypto industry faces in terms of regulatory scrutiny. With SEC's regulatory powers expanding, it is crucial for companies to ensure compliance with securities laws. However, the debates on whether cryptocurrencies are securities or not continue to rage on, and it remains to be seen how these debates will be resolved.