• The latest interview by former SEC Chair Jay Clayton has received a disbelief response from Ripple CEO. 

• In the interview, Clayton appeared sympathetic to entrepreneurs who rely on the public to raise capital. 

Former Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Chair Jay Clayton has made a statement that contradicts the actions of the Agency he once served. An excerpt of the interview with the Council on Foreign Relations, an American think tank, was shared by a renowned XRP influencer Crypto Eri. Accordingly, this has elicited a response from Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse.

With a sympathetic tone, Clayton stated that he commiserates with entrepreneurs who rely on the public to raise capital. He also expressed a sense of sympathy for retail investors who want similar opportunities. 

With the crypto industry, the former SEC chair highlighted the frustration in the ecosystem, calling on regulators to make it easier for small and medium-sized companies to raise capital.

A lot of what you saw in the ICO craze, seen from crypto people, is a great frustration at that state of affairs, and making it easier for non-accredited investors or even credited investors to participate in those opportunities.

His statement is seen as a serious irony to the actions of his administration, especially the lawsuit against Ripple Labs in December 2020. Ripple Labs executives were accused of selling unregistered securities. However, the court granted a partial win to the blockchain company. This lawsuit significantly impacted the XRP price, triggering a sell-off and causing exchanges to delist the asset. A section of the crypto community also questioned the ethics behind the regulatory decisions against Ripple. 

Ripple CEO Reacts to the Interview

During the interview, Clayton stated that the appropriate way of regulating the industry is to recognize it as a technology instead of a product. 

I think the appropriate way to regulate crypto is to recognize it is technology, not a product. It’s a different technology for almost all cases, delivering a product that we already know, sometimes in a more efficient way.

On the long-standing issue of crypto classifications as either securities or commodities, Clayton stated that the market can decide. According to him, he thinks crypto is a technology.

I think the market can decide. I think there is enough ethics in trading, but in terms of regulating crypto, I have sort of been – it’s a technology, I think there is a classification issue whether a product is a security or a commodity is overblown.

This answer also contrasts with its previous enforcement actions. Clayton believes that it is important to have regulated platforms pending the decisions on the classification issue.

I think most of these decisions are pretty easy to the extent that we are going to wrestle with those classification issues. I say, get on with it, let’s have regulated platforms where you can put either, waiting until these classification issues get decided.

In response to this interview, Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse stated: “I’m in disbelief”.

It is important to note that the Commission has dropped the charges against the Ripple executives. 

XRP is currently trading at $0.604292 and has surged by 16.94 percent in the last three months, adding $0.087538 to its previous price.