Brad Garlinghouse: "Only Congress can change the SEC's approach to cryptocurrencies"

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The CEO of Ripple criticized the leadership of the US Securities and Exchange Commission for its approach to regulating the cryptocurrency industry.

Brad Garlinghouse commented
article in the Wall Street Journal, where the authorscalled the approach of SEC Chairman Gary Gensler counterproductive. His desire to strictly regulate the crypto industry will not help protect investors, the article says. Garlinghouse expressed complete agreement with this accurate view. He believes that the article by a reputable publication should push the US Congress to prevent the regulator from applying coercive methods to a developing industry with great potential.

"If Congress still doesn't try to stop Mr. Gensler after the WSJ article, I don't know what else it will take to galvanize the government into action," Garlinghouse tweeted.

According to him, the SEC ignores constantcalls from industry participants to create clear rules for regulating cryptocurrencies, expressing their willingness to work in accordance with the required standards. The SEC says its rules regarding digital assets are fairly clear, without providing any further clarification. Cryptocurrency companies are trying to clarify these rules for themselves, but are not receiving an answer. Then they offer products based on the SEC's self-interpreted rules, but the regulator starts accusing the companies of violating the rules, Garlinghouse complains.

An example of such opposition is the SECcryptocurrency companies can be called a legal battle with Ripple, which began at the end of 2020. The SEC accused the company of conducting an unregistered ICO worth $1.3 billion in 2013. Ripple does not agree with the regulator's accusations and claims that the sale of XRP does not violate securities laws.

Recently, a class action lawsuit with similar allegations was filed against the Solana project. The plaintiffs argue that, under the Howey test, the SOL cryptoasset is considered a security.