Ripple’s top lawyer thinks “regulatory hostility” is hurting crypto innovators and retail investors alike.
Ripple’s general counsel, Stuart Alderoty, says in a new discussion at a Politico event that the San Francisco-based payments firm has not signed a single US customer to its platform since December 2020, when the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) sued the company.
The SEC and Ripple are embroiled in a lawsuit that accuses Ripple of selling XRP as an unregistered security.
Still, Alderoty says Ripple is thriving despite the domestic challenges, noting the company’s payment rails will facilitate more than $10 billion worth of transactions this year.
“In the past two years, we had the strongest years ever as a company. That $10 billion in volume mostly is driven offshore. And by the way this is all done compliant with anti-money laundering laws, OFAC [Office of Foreign Assets Control] laws, anti-sanction laws etc. Why is that? Why haven’t we signed a single US customer in the past two years? Because of regulatory uncertainty and really regulatory hostility.”
Alderoty says “regulation by enforcement” puts the US at a disadvantage compared to other economic centers like Singapore, London and Dubai.
“What we are doing here in the US and I think principally through the SEC as an institution, is we’re elevating politics and power over sound policy. And in doing that, you’re not only hurting innovation and innovators and entrepreneurs like Ripple and others… but ultimately you’re hurting the retail holder of this asset.”
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