Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse has slammed Gary Gensler, the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) chairman, over his unfavorable regulatory approach in the crypto space.

Gensler Prioritizes Hiring More Lawyers Over Establishing Clear Rules

In a recent interview with Fox Business at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, Garlinghouse reiterated that Gensler is a political liability to the United States.

Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse breaks down the impact of the new Bitcoin ETFs and the future of crypto regulations pic.twitter.com/8McHdfijhL

— Mornings with Maria (@MorningsMaria) January 18, 2024

According to Garlinghouse, the SEC boss has prioritized hiring more lawyers to prosecute the industry – a move the Ripple CEO describes as a “regulation through enforcement” approach.

It is common knowledge that various units of the SEC are filled with lawyers, ranging from the Enforcement to Corporation Finance divisions. Garlinghouse’s criticism of the SEC’s regulatory approach is reflected in the numerous lawsuits that the commission has brought against crypto firms.

Over the last three years, the SEC has been engaged in legal actions against Ripple, Grayscale, Coinbase, Kraken, and Binance, among others. However, Ripple’s CEO has voiced concerns over the SEC’s regulatory approach to the crypto sector.

U.S. Crypto Firms Want to Follow the Rules

He asserted that most crypto-related firms want to follow the “rules of the road” if only U.S. regulators can establish these rules.

Notably, Garlinghouse noted that countries worldwide have started acting to regulate their crypto space. One of these efforts, according to Garlinghouse, is the European Union’s adoption of the world’s first comprehensive set of rules for crypto regulation.

It bears mentioning that the rule requires firms that want to issue, safeguard, and trade tokenized assets, cryptos, and stablecoins in the 27 European nations to obtain a license.

While other regions are making progress in crypto regulation, Garlinghouse said the United States has not done any of these works.

ChatGPT Should Suggest Tips on Regulating U.S. Crypto Space

In the absence of regulatory clarity in the United States, Garlinghouse suggested that the country should leverage the popular A.I. chatbot ChatGPT to get tips on how to regulate the crypto space.

According to Garlinghouse, employing the services of ChatGPT is more than the efforts the SEC has put into regulating the crypto industry.

“I jokingly suggested that maybe what we should just do is type into ChatGPT ‘How should the U.S. [regulate crypto]. It is more than [what] the U.S. SEC has done,” he remarked.

U.S. Judicial System Continues to Slap Down the SEC

Furthermore, the Ripple CEO pointed out that the SEC has continued to receive pushback from the judicial system for overreaching its authority regarding what the law requires.

“That’s the reason why they lost the case against Ripple and Grayscale. It’s the reason why they are dragged, kicking, and screaming to have [Bitcoin spot] ETFs,” he added.

For the Ripple CEO, Gensler has been acting based on his own agenda against the people.

Crypto Is Here to Stay

He asserted that crypto technologies have come to stay, adding that the recent approval of multiple ETFs also corroborates this fact.

Per Garlinghouse, while the U.S. spends so much time in the judiciary to get clarity, countries like Japan, the UAE, the U.K., and Switzerland have made significant progress regulating their crypto industries.

“These are not small economies. They are doing the work to find their clarity, and I think [in] the U.S., it has become a political agenda and not a policy agenda,” he added.

 Source