Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse recently reacted to the approval of the Financial Innovation and Technology for the 21st Century Act (FIT21) by the US House of Representatives by taking a jab at US Securities and Exchange Commission Chair Gary Gensler.
Garlinghouse said that his take about Gensler becoming a political liability had aged well.
In December 2023, the Ripple CEO said that Gensler had "destroyed" the integrity of the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).
The passage of the bill, which aims to create a legal framework for cryptocurrencies in the US, marked a major win for the cryptocurrency industry.
The most striking thing about the recent vote was the fact that as many as 71 Democrats joined the Republicans to vote in favor of the FIT21 bill.
In his statement, Gensler aggressively opposed the bill, claiming that "many players in the crypto industry don't play by the rules." "We should make the policy choice to protect the investing public over facilitating business models of non-compliant firms," he said. The SEC chair warned that the bill could make it more challenging to protect investors, arguing that the cryptocurrency industry does not want to play by the rules.
The bill would effectively defang the SEC by making the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) a leading regulator of digital currencies.
Now that the bill has passed the House with strong bipartisan support, it remains to be seen whether or not it will be approved by the Senate.
Stuart Alderoty, Ripple's top lawyer, recently stressed the importance of bipartisan cooperation when it comes to cryptocurrencies.