Ripple’s general counsel Stuart Alderoty slammed U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission Chair Gary Gensler for his remark that the Supreme Court has already determined what is and isn’t considered a security.
“Was it intentional or does he really not know the law? Which is worse?” Alderoty tweeted.
“Gensler said it’s security if the investing public is anticipating profits based on the efforts of a common enterprise. The Courts already rejected that, b/c it collapses two separate Howey prongs into one and: “We do not interpret the Howey test to be so easily satisfied,” Ripple’s GA added.
On September 15, Republican Senator Pat Toomey quizzed Gary Gensler, chairman of the regulatory giant, regarding the structure the agency uses to oversee cryptocurrencies and on Gensler’s statements that almost all cryptocurrencies are similar to unregistered securities.
During the Senate Banking Committee oversight hearing, Toomey expressed concern that the agency isn’t doing its duties to its standard.
The US senator for Pennsylvania also asserted that the SEC lacks the necessary transparency. The issue, he claimed, is that the commission refuses to divulge the structure it employs.
Toomey also pointed out the differences between traditional securities and crypto, noting that these differences “merit a clearly stated and tailored regulatory framework.”
On the other hand, Gensler responded and maintained his stance that there is a well-established, multifactor standard that most tokens meet and that the Supreme Court has already addressed the meaning of security.
Toomey added that the SEC should offer “far more clarity” in the interim until Congress can step in and create a clear framework for crypto investors. The republican member also called out the financial watchdog for its inability to help investors adequately when the market had a dip earlier this year.
Ripple’s Stuart Alderoty Accused SEC Of Power Grabbing
In response, Gensler said that many companies need to come forward and directly talk with the SEC about listing and selling tokens. Gensler also thinks that there should be “one officer on the beat” in charge of overseeing cryptocurrency regulation.
The SEC chairman dismissed the notion that cryptocurrencies need specific regulation in a recent statement at an industry conference.
Alderoty of Ripple has repeatedly criticized the SEC’s stance saying that it was behind a “political power grab.”
Ripple is currently entangled in a grueling legal battle with the SEC, whose outcome is widely believed to have massive implications for the cryptocurrency industry.