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- Ripple Chief Legal Officer Stuart Alderoty took part in a recent conference panel where he insisted that regulatory ambiguity in the US has limited crypto.
- He says that the SEC has eroded the US’s once-victorious leadership through its ‘regulation by enforcement’ approach.
If the US regulators had been more supportive of the crypto industry and not resulted in the ‘regulation by enforcement’ approach, America’s crypto industry would be lightyears ahead, believes Stuart Alderoty, the Chief Legal Officer at Ripple.
Alderoty was part of a panel at the Financial Markets Quality Conference 2024, an event organized by the Psaros Center for Financial Markets and Policy at Georgetown University. He was joined by Robinhood’s Dan Gallagher, Grayscale’s Head of ETFs David LaValle and Bullish CEO Thomas Farley.
Happening now!
Ripple Chief Legal Officer @s_alderoty speaking alongside Robinhood, Grayscale, Bullish, WEF and CNBC at the @GUFinPolicy Financial Markets Quality (FMQ) Conference 2024.
Tune in here: https://t.co/0QmDh8Mw7L
— Ripple (@Ripple) September 17, 2024
Straight off the bat, Alderoty took shots at the SEC, calling on policymakers to “remove the impetus for unelected bureaucrats who are running these regulatory agencies to create policy through enforcement.”
This has been an oft-cited criticism aimed at the Gary Gensler-led SEC, which many believe has taken an anti-crypto stance, despite Gensler being originally seen as the most pro-crypto chairman at the SEC when he took over. However, since taking power, he has ramped up enforcement against crypto firms, although he has lost some landmark legal battles, such as his pursuit of a staggering $2 billion fine from Ripple.
On whether Ripple (and crypto in general) prefers a Trump victory over a Harris triumph, Alderoty was neutral, saying both camps have shown signs that they will be accommodating towards crypto. Trump has, however, been more vocal about his love for crypto.
Not everyone agreed with Alderoty. Robinhood’s Gallagher, who was previously a high-ranking SEC official before he switched to private practice, believes Harris would wage a war against crypto. He stated:
If Harris wins…whatever they whispered to you, take it with a grain of salt.
Some, like Farley, the CEO of regulated exchange Bullish, believe that it doesn’t matter who wins as long as anti-crypto legislators like Senator Elizabeth Warren remain in power.
Senator Warren isn’t interested in being helpful to crypto, or defining what is and isn’t a security, what is and isn’t DeFi, how we can bring innovation in this country; she hates all of it.
Ripple CLO: Regulate Crypto Now!
Alderoty dug even further down on his criticism of the SEC, claiming that the agency has failed to establish itself as the leader in crypto regulation globally. He noted that no law has appointed the SEC as the crypto tsar and that it has been sanctioned by courts for lying in the Debt Box case, acting arbitrarily and capriciously in the Grayscale ETF case and more.
Alderoty revealed that Ripple is committed to ensuring that pro-innovation legislators take positions of power in the November elections and has donated $190 million to ensure that anti-crypto candidates are pushed out. One such key battle is in Massachusetts where Senator Warren squares off against John Deaton, the XRP fan and BTC holder.
