Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse has warned that while Ripple’s legal battle against the US financial watchdog is coming to an end, “this is just the start of a larger battle for the industry, and the fight for regulatory clarity” must continue. ‘
After the Hinman documents were released on June 13 in the ongoing lawsuit between Ripple and the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Garlinghouse posted a video on Twitter discussing the timeline of the lawsuit and expressing his frustration. to the SEC.
Posted June 17, Garlinghouse said in the video that the unsealing of the Hinman documents suggests the SEC “knowingly created confusion about the rules, and they used that confusion through enforcement.”
Trying something new – some thoughts from me on the events (especially the release of the Hinman documents) this week. For me, it all had a personal bent – and I felt like it deserved some personal commentary. pic.twitter.com/k4dYeQGhsN
— Brad Garlinghouse (@bgarlinghouse) June 16, 2023
In his remarks, Garlinghouse strongly criticized the SEC’s actions, describing them as a clear case of “bad faith, plain and simple.” He reiterated the unfortunate timing of the lawsuit’s initial filing in December 2020, days before Christmas, as a “very grumpy touch”.
He further argued that the SEC was “seeking to kill” innovation and the cryptocurrency industry in the United States.
“It’s the definition of putting politics on people (…) and the pursuit of power on sound politics,” he said.
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Garlinghouse explained that before “every question (the SEC) had done it, and not once did they suggest to me that XRP was a security.”
Garlinghouse argued that Hinman’s speech itself was not about “a token or a blockchain,” but more so about the SEC’s overall stance toward the crypto industry.
“This is about how the SEC has relentlessly enforced actions against crypto players, while professing fake open arms and calls to come in and register, while lying about their so-called advice .”
Garlinghouse further explained that “at best” the documents suggest that senior SEC officials “couldn’t agree” on the law and told Bill Hinman directly that “he would confuse the public even more about the rules of cryptography”.
Cointelegraph reported on June 13 that notes in the leaked documents suggested publishers were concerned that Hinman’s statement that Ether is not a security could make it “difficult for the agency to take a different position on Ether in the future. “.
Most importantly, this is really the first time the SEC has been forced to be transparent about its lack of internal consistency or faithful application of the law, acknowledging that it has not may not have the skill to fill the “regulatory gap” on crypto.
— Brad Garlinghouse (@bgarlinghouse) June 16, 2023
However, Garlinghouse noted that “at worst,” the documents showed Hinman “deliberately ignored the law” and attempted to “create new laws,” pointing out that only Congress had the power to do so.
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