Ripple CEO Demands Crypto Clarity from US Congress

Ripple CEO calls for clearer regulations on cryptocurrency from the US Congress

Ripple Labs CEO Brad Garlinghouse has urged the US Congress to create clear and consistent guidelines for the cryptocurrency industry, as the company faces a lawsuit from the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) over its XRP token.

In a series of tweets on November 5, Garlinghouse said that the US was lagging behind other countries in providing regulatory clarity for crypto and that the lack of a coherent framework was hurting innovation and growth in the sector.

He cited a report by The Wall Street Journal that said federal agencies had asked Congress for more authority to regulate stablecoins, a type of cryptocurrency that is pegged to a fiat currency or another asset. Garlinghouse said that while stablecoins were an important part of the crypto ecosystem, they were not the only issue that needed attention.

He argued that Congress should consider passing bills that would provide clear definitions and rules for different types of crypto assets, such as the Securities Clarity Act, the Token Taxonomy Act, and the Digital Commodity Exchange Act. He said that these bills had bipartisan and bicameral support and that they would foster innovation and competition in the crypto space.

Garlinghouse also expressed his frustration with the SEC's lawsuit against Ripple, which alleges that the company sold XRP as an unregistered security. He said that the SEC had failed to provide clear guidance on how it determines whether a crypto asset is a security or not, and that it had contradicted its previous statements and actions regarding XRP.

He said that the SEC's lawsuit had harmed millions of XRP holders, who had no role in Ripple's operations, and that it had created uncertainty and confusion in the market. He said that Ripple was fighting to defend its rights and the rights of its customers and partners and that it was confident that it would prevail in court.

Garlinghouse concluded his tweets by saying that he was optimistic that 2023 would be the year that the US would finally achieve a breakthrough in crypto regulation, and that he was looking forward to working with lawmakers and regulators to make it happen. He said that the US had the opportunity to lead the world in crypto innovation and that it should not miss it.