Summary
- Ripple’s Chief Legal Officer is concerned that the United States is lacking clarity when it comes to crypto.
- He believes every token deserves clarity without lengthy court battles; but changes won’t happen overnight.
- While some issues in SEC vs Ripple are still outstanding, the status of XRP as a non-security is not under threat.
Ripple’s Chief Legal Officer (CLO) Stuart Alderoty does not hold back when it comes to crypto regulation in the United States, especially with regard to the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). He has called the SEC’s approach to crypto “arbitrary and capricious” for its lack of guidance and its continued unhelpful statements to “come in and register.”
Alderoty: “We Have Lost Our Way”
In the latest verbal tiff, he spoke to CNBC and challenged the way the U.S. is approaching crypto. Citing that crypto has legal clarity underpinned by a rational regulatory framework in many countries he stated the U.S. is missing out due to politics and power games.
Stu Alderoty referred to Australia, Japan, Singapore, the UK, and the EU and said there are many more that welcome crypto and want to foster innovation.
Yet, in the United States there is not only a lack of clarity but also real confusion about who is in charge.
Ripple’s legal chief said: “We have certain agencies who are fighting over who is going to get to control, from a regulatory perspective, the technology rather than satisfying what is the right policy outcome.”
What’s Next for US Regulations?
Alderoty does not have high hopes when it comes to regulation in the United States. Instead of the U.S. Congress providing regulatory clarity, issues relating to crypto are often brought before courts.
Additionally, instead of driving innovation, the United States is still debating what is a security and what should be classified as a commodity or virtual currency.
While the issue should not be fought token by token, the Ripple CLO does not see that change anytime soon.
It is worth noting that in the case SEC vs Ripple, Judge Torres expressly stated that her ruling pertained to XRP only and that she was not making a general judgement on crypto or a specific one about other cryptocurrencies.
XRP is Not a Security
The good news is that there is now no doubt when it comes to XRP. While never classified as a security in any jurisdiction in the world, the United States has now assurance that XRP is also not seen as a security in the country.
Regarding the extensive legal battle and SEC claims over XRP being a security, Alderoty stated,
We won that issue. We won that issue on July 13th. I think it gives XRP clarity in the US and XRP is a digital token, it’s now uniquely classified as a non-security in the US.
Stuart AlderotyWhile XRP does have legal clarity, Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse and Chairman Chris Larsen face a jury trial in April 2024 over some unresolved issues. These issues do not involve the status of XRP itself.
At the time of writing XRP was trading at US $0.48 ($0.76) as data from CoinMarketCap shows.
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