Ripple’s top lawyer is urging U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Commissioner Hester Peirce to speak out sooner and louder against the regulator’s hostile approach toward the crypto industry.
Last week, Peirce released a statement of dissent regarding the SEC’s lawsuit against the blockchain-based file-sharing payment network LBRY, which the regulator filed in 2021 under allegations the company sold crypto assets as unregistered securities.
Responding to Peirce’s statement, Ripple’s chief legal counsel Stuart Alderoty asks the commissioner if perhaps it’s time for her to file an amicus brief in defense of LBRY or other cases in the crypto industry.
“Thank you, Commissioner. When you see injustices like this continue in non-fraud cases (while consumers wait for recourse from actual frauds), perhaps it’s time to let ordinary rules of protocol go by the wayside and speak out louder and sooner? Perhaps even with an amicus brief?”
Pro-XRP lawyer John Deaton, who represented 75,000 XRP holders during his amicus curiae in the SEC’s lawsuit against Ripple, also responded to Peirce, echoing Alderoty’s sentiments.
“Dissents and open letters of criticism are great and appreciated. Certainly, better than nothing.
But maybe it is time to get off the sidelines and take that extra step and file an amicus brief. As you know, 75,000 individual holders spoke up to have their voices heard in Court. I think it’s time someone from the inside also spoke out – in court.”
In Peirce’s recent statement of dissent against the SEC, the commissioner questioned why the regulator went after LBRY – a company that didn’t appear to cause any discernible harm to anyone – rather than go after other companies that were actually engaged in outright fraud.
“Why go after a company that sold a token for a functioning blockchain with an established use when we could have pursued plenty of other projects that were outright frauds and did not attempt to comply with the securities laws? To make matters worse, the Commission took an extremely hardline approach in this case.
For example, after winning on summary judgment, the Commission sought monetary remedies of $44 million and asserted that LBRY’s offer to burn all tokens in its possession was not sufficient assurance that LBRY would not violate the registration provisions in the future. The Commission’s requested remedies were entirely out of proportion to any harm.”
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