Ripple CEO Accuses SEC Chair of 'Stunning Hypocrisy'

By: Eva Baxter

RippleCEO Brad Garlinghouse has launched harsh criticism at U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Chair Gary Gensler, condemning him for his supposed 'stunning hypocrisy'. Garlinghouse's remarks stem from Gensler's recent criticism of the crypto industry's widespread non-compliance.

Gensler emphasized the detrimental consequences of such non-compliance, regarding its impact on individuals as deleterious often leading to individual bankruptcy without adequate recourse. Garlinghouse, in response, accused Gensler of duplicity, claiming that while the latter emphasizes the harm done to consumers due to the crypto industry, he himself is associated with damaging the consumers and eroding the SEC's integrity while maintaining close ties with Wall Street.

Furthermore, Gensler's consistent stand that the current securities laws suffices for the crypto industry has drawn the ire of the crypto community. The community is mostly in favor of new regulations for crypto finance models, considering that the SEC's use of decades-old laws might not be entirely equatable to emerging models like decentralized autonomous organizations (DAOs) and decentralized finance (DeFi) protocols.

Regardless, under Gensler's leadership, the SEC has been strict in its approach towards the crypto industry and has gone as far as to label popular cryptocurrencies like Solana, Cardano, and Polygon as crypto securities tokens in many of its legal actions against major crypto bodies.