Stuart Aldeorty, chief legal officer at Ripple, has outlined some key principles that he believes the SEC has to follow in 2025.
The company’s top legal mind has stressed that the SEC has jurisdiction only over security transactions.
According to Alderoty, the SEC cannot police simple asset sales.
"Selling a gold bar with a contractual right, title, or interest in my gold mine? Likely a security transaction. Selling that same gold bar without post-sale rights or obligations? Just an asset sale—the SEC can’t police it," he said.
Aldeorty has also criticized the theory that a cryptocurrency token can potentially evolve from a security to a non-security. He is convinced that this is just a made-up fallacy "with no footing in law."
The SEC has attracted severe criticism from members of the cryptocurrency industry after trying to expand its jurisdiction by labeling cryptocurrency assets as securities.
Alex DovbnyaThe Ripple CLO has stressed that the SEC’s reach cannot expand based on its "self-serving" view of who deserves disclosures more.
Even though cryptocurrency tokens can be the subject of security transactions, they cannot be classified as securities, according to Alderoty.
The SEC’s aggressive “regulation by enforcement” approach is widely expected to come to an abrupt end following the upcoming departure of SEC Chair Gary Gensler. Paul Atkins, the nominee slated to replace Gensler, is likely to adopt a friendlier approach.
However, a recent New York Post report suggests that the SEC might not necessarily give the cryptocurrency industry a free pass next year.
Last month, Alderoty urged the next SEC chair to put an end to all non-fraud cryptocurrency cases and collaborate with Congress on clear rules for crypto.
Dan Burgin
Vladislav Sopov