Regulation
US cryptocurrency rules lagging behind due to ‘endless’ lawsuits
Ripples CEO Says Cryptocurrency Industry Still Waiting for Regulatory Clarity from US
Speaking to Bloomberg News on Wednesday (July 17), Brad Garlinghouse said America was lagging behind behind other countries which have already adopted regulations on cryptocurrencies.
“What we see is, where you have the United Kingdom, Japan, Singapore… even the European Union, over two dozen countries have come together to provide a framework “for the regulation of cryptocurrencies,” Garlinghouse said.
“It’s frustrating that we’re not able to put that framework in place as a country. Instead, we’re faced with endless litigation from the SEC that doesn’t really solve the problem.”
Ripple has been the target of some of these disputes. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) sued the company in 2020, accusing it of to conduct a $1.3 billion operation unregistered securities offering linked to its XRP token.
However, a judge ruled last year that only Ripple’s institutional sales of XRP — not retail sales — violated the law, a decision widely seen as a victory for the cryptocurrency space.
As PYMNTS noted at the time, the move is “far-reaching.” repercussions across the digital asset ecosystem, which has long maintained that its tokens do not represent securities contracts.
Still, Garlinghouse told Bloomberg on Wednesday that the company can’t launch multimillion-dollar court battles over every token.
He spoke to the outlet from the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee, the party backing the ticket of former President Donald Trump and Ohio Sen. J.D. Vance, both considered pro-crypto candidates.
But Garlinghouse argued that crypto “should not be a partisan issue” and noted that he recently attended a conference in Washington, D.C., where Democrats, including White House officials, were present.
“I think they were there, listening to the industry… it was refreshing to start having that conversation,” he said.
President Joe Biden earlier this year vetoed a measure This would have ended the SEC’s special rules for crypto asset custodians. This legislation was supported by both the digital asset industry and the banking industry.
Ripple earlier this year donated $25 million to the crypto industry super PAC FairshakeGarlinghouse said at the time that such donations would continue every year, as long as the industry had its opponents.
According to Open secretswhich monitors expenses On the campaign front, the PAC spent $13.4 million this year, much of it to help defeat the U.S. Senate campaign of Rep. Katie Porter (D-Calif.).