Ripple's General Counsel Sees "Absurdity" in SEC's Approach to Enforcing Crypto Regulation

Ripple general counsel Stuart Alderoty sees "absurdity" in the SEC's enforcement of its standard market regulations. He says, "I would rethink the 'logic' of saying that crypto markets have to succumb to SEC jurisdiction because that's like saying drivers of electric cars don't need seatbelts. It's actually more like punishing electric car drivers b/c they don't use SEC-owned and controlled gas stations."

I would rethink the “logic” of saying that crypto markets have to succumb to SEC jurisdiction, b/c that’s like saying drivers of electric cars don’t need seatbelts. It’s actually more like punishing electric car drivers b/c they don’t use SEC-owned and controlled gas stations. https://t.co/R4T59i5u8a

— Stuart Alderoty (@s_alderoty) August 1, 2022

SEC chair Gary Gensler said the agency has rules in its capital markets to safeguard market integrity while also ensuring investors are protected. Gensler added, "If a company builds a crypto market that protects investors & meets the standard of our market regulations, people will more likely have greater confidence in that market."

However, as it stands, Gensler has not provided a roadmap of how exactly the greater confidence will be built.

To this end, Alderoty highlighted the urgent need for "sensible" crypto regulation from the U.S. while slamming the SEC's approach as "bullying" in a recent op-ed.

Alderoty referred back to Rep. Sherman's "off-base" remarks during an oversight hearing focused on the Securities and Exchange Commission's (SEC) enforcement division held last week by the House Financial Services Subcommittee in which Sherman touched on the Ripple lawsuit.

In December 2020, the SEC sued Ripple for allegedly raising funds by selling XRP, which at the time was the third biggest cryptocurrency, without registering it as a security.

Twitch users may soon be able to create NFTs on XRPL

We're proud to be a recipient of @RippleXDev's #XRPLGrants Program!

This will allow #Twitch streamers to create NFTs on #XRPLedger and connect with game developers to give their tokens in-game utility. 🎮📹

Stay tuned for launch next month!https://t.co/Pz9QVCWCej#XRPL #NFT pic.twitter.com/rSDTtVDhhf

— PlayNFT (@playnft_io) July 21, 2022

PlayNFT, a platform for creating non-fungible tokens (NFTs), recently announced it was one of the awardees of RippleX's XRPL Grants Program. Through the platform, Twitch streamers can generate NFTs on XRPLedger and connect with other gamers and developers to give their tokens utility inside the games. It is anticipated to launch later this month.

The XRPL Grants program provides monetary support to software development initiatives using the open-source XRP Ledger (XRPL). Applicants received a total of $3 million in funding from XRPL Grants during the second quarter of 2022.