Regulation by the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) through “enforcement,” as opposed to “doing the job,” is not a “healthy way” to regulate the industry, and could make the US a less attractive place for crypto. innovation, suggests Ripple’s CEO.
In a March 3 Bloomberg interview, blockchain-based digital payment network Ripple’s CEO, Brad Garlinghouse, suggested that the SEC’s approach to regulation puts the U.S. at “severe risk” of not being a hub for the next evolution of blockchain and crypto innovation.
Garlinghouse noted that the regulator’s case against Ripple is that they are only playing “violations” and “attacking” the industry as a whole, adding that if the SEC “can win,” there will be “many more cases.”
He suggested that the crypto industry has “started to move outside” the US, as the crypto regulatory process is “behind” other countries such as “Australia, England, Japan, Singapore and Switzerland.”
He praised the countries for taking “time and thought” to create “clear rules of the road,” adding that the approach taken by the U.S. is not “a healthy way to regulate the industry.”
Garlinghouse said when he “first got into the tech industry in the late ’90s,” there were calls for the internet to be banned, because of “illegal activity,” but the government said “no, we’re going to create a framework.”
He said he “sees the benefits” brought to the US by its “geopolitical base,” having “Amazon and Google,” based in the US
Garlinghouse believes that the crypto framework should start with “clear protections for consumers.”
He added that consumers are suffering “backwards”, saying they do not have the “equal protection” that the US regulatory framework could provide.
Garlinghouse believes a decision should come this year on the SEC’s case against Ripple.
related: Ripple Survey: 97% of payment companies believe in the power of crypto
John Deaton, the founder of the legal news outlet Crypto Law Lawyer made a call-to-action to his 245,000 twitter followers on March 5 stating that all companies in “active litigation” with the SEC, must collaborate and develop a “coordinated strategy,” he added. that it is “war”.
We have to think and organize. For example, all companies in active litigation with the SEC, or will be, should meet, share ideas, and develop a coordinated strategy. It’s a war.
I’m happy to help. Maybe I can change that @elonmusk is the most hated SEC.
— John E Deaton (@JohnEDeaton1) March 5, 2023
This comes after Blockchain Association CEO Kristin Smith told Bloomberg in a February 22 interview that the crypto regulatory process in the U.S. is happening “behind closed doors,” and it’s important for more industry involvement in an “open process,” involving Congress.