SAN FRANCISCO—Ripple Labs, which is locked in a court battle with the Securities and Exchange Commission, has a recommendation for Washington policy makers: the SEC should limit its role in policing cryptocurrencies.
“The SEC’s approach under the current administration has been hostile,” Stuart Alderoty, Ripple’s general counsel, said in an interview with Bloomberg. The agency is “doubling down on regulation by enforcement,” rather than setting clear rules, he added.
Ripple just released a paper that calls on regulators, lawmakers and the industry to come up with a framework for overseeing the white-hot market. Ripple, whose payment network uses the XRP token which was once the third-biggest cryptocurrency before the SEC sued the company for issuing an unregistered security, said a lack of U.S. guidelines was harming innovation and driving businesses overseas, Bloomberg reported.
“The Ripple plan is the latest attempt by industry executives to undermine the SEC, which many coin enthusiasts say has aggressively asserted oversight of crypto under Chair Gary Gensler without a clear legal mandate from Congress,” Bloomberg reported. “Ripple calls for a bigger role for the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, which has historically taken a more friendly approach to the asset class.”