Ripple Executives Slam SEC's Inconsistent Crypto Regulation

Ripple executives have voiced strong criticism of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) over its handling of cases against the crypto industry. The SEC recently announced plans to amend its complaint against Binance, focusing on "Third Party Crypto Asset Securities," which include cryptocurrencies like SOL, ADA, FIL, ATOM, SAND, MANA, ALGO, AXS, and COTI.

Over the past year, the SEC has filed multiple lawsuits against crypto firms, targeting platforms they believe should be registered and classifying certain cryptocurrencies as securities. Among these, the SEC sued Binance Holdings and its former CEO Changpeng Zhao, accusing them of misleading customers, failing to restrict U.S. investors, misdirecting funds, and operating as an unregistered exchange.

The SEC also sued Coinbase for allegedly operating as an unregistered exchange, broker, and clearing agency, listing SOL, ADA, MATIC, FIL, SAND, AXS, CHZ, FLOW, ICP, NEAR, VGX, DASH, and NEXO as "crypto asset securities."

Ripple's chief legal officer, Stuart Alderoty, criticized the SEC's inconsistent approach. He pointed out that while the SEC backed down on its claim that 10 tokens on Binance are securities, it left these tokens in the Coinbase lawsuit, causing confusion. Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse called this "hypocrisy," highlighting SEC Chair Gary Gensler's contradictory statements about the clarity of regulations.

Ripple and the SEC have been in a prolonged legal battle since the SEC accused Ripple of raising $1.3 billion through unregistered sales of XRP. Last year, Judge Analisa Torres ruled that some of Ripple’s sales of XRP did not violate securities laws, although direct sales to institutional investors were deemed securities.