Recently, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has been harshly chastised for its regulatory stance in the cryptocurrency market, which many says has hampered the growth of the burgeoning market.
After Ethereum’s transition from proof-of-work to proof-of-stake, the SEC initiated a debate over wetter the second largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization in the world should be classified as a security, or not.
On top of that, the SEC – the American government branch responsible for imposing jurisdiction against market manipulation, also declared that Ethereum falls under American jurisdiction, due to the majority of the currency’s validator nodes that secure the network being set up in the country.
The SEC debates has since had a huge impact on the cryptocurrency market. Most cryptocurrencies –especially those whose ecosystem depends on Ethereum’s blockchain, have had their value decreased over the course of the past few days.
This decision has generated criticism from several cryptocurrency experts, including Ripple General Counsel, Stuart Alderoty.
In an interview with Politico, Alderoty discussed the regulatory instability in the bitcoin market in the United States, particularly SEC Chair Gary Gensler’s overreach in the area.
SEC Chair Criticism
According to Gary Gensler, the chairperson ahead of the SEC, Bitcoin is the only cryptocurrency that is not subject to SEC regulation. As a result, all crypto assets other than Bitcoin are security and should be controlled by the American agency.
As a response to these statements, Alderoty claimed that “[No one] held an election for the cop on the beat for Crypto.”
Later he emphasized that Gensler could not “self-appoint yourself as the cop on the beat for crypto.”
Alderoty believes that the US crypto industry has endured regulatory ambiguity for years in comparison to other smart economic areas such as Singapore, the United Kingdom, and Dubai.
As stated by the Ripple General Counsel, the United States has promoted politics and power above solid policy through the SEC, which has continued to harm innovators, entrepreneurs, and retail investors.
Ripple Also Has Been On the SEC Target
Alderoty’s Ripple has also been involved in scuffles with the SEC.
The SEC filed a lawsuit against Ripple Labs, Inc. (“Ripple”) and two of its executives on December 22, 2020, stating that the defendants violated federal securities laws by failing to register the cryptocurrency XRP with the SEC or meet an exemption from registration.
The lawsuit is still ongoing.
