Bitrabo Editorial
Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse expressed that the recent actions of the US Securities Exchange Commission (SEC) against Binance and Coinbase couldn’t distract the industry from the regulator’s failure in the FTX scandal. Garlinghouse also stated that SEC Chair Gary Gensler’s actions now differ from his previously proclaimed “pro-innovation stance.”
The clampdown on Binance and Coinbase has raised several concerns in the crypto industry. Since the SEC announced the lawsuit against Binance, the exchange saw net outflows amounting to $778 million in 24 hours. Furthermore, withdrawals on Binance spiked following the announcement. While the industry faces the regulatory clampdown, SEC Chair Gensler declared that the country doesn’t need more crypto assets and that it already has digital currency in the form of the US dollar, euro, or yen.
Garlinghouse criticized Gensler’s self-acclaimed support for innovation as laughable, given his actions point to the opposite. This statement comes after Gensler, speaking before the Senate Banking Committee in 2021, claimed blockchain to be a catalyst for change.
Garlinghouse further stated that SEC’s recent crackdown on crypto firms is an attempt to distract the industry from the failure of FTX, which crashed in 2022 and caused contagion beyond the crypto industry.
Garlinghouse slammed the SEC Chair for FTX fraud, stating that it caught him “completely flat-footed” even while touting the commission’s actions as the “cop on the beat.” According to Garlinghouse, the SEC failed to investigate the firm for fraud before the crash, causing investors to lose millions of dollars. Thus, suing crypto firms now won’t mask the regulator’s negligence in the FTX scandal.
Some enthusiasts believe that the lawsuit against Binance is President Biden’s retaliation on the firm that supposedly “set FTX on fire.” Notably, FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried (SBF) donated $5.2 million to President Biden’s campaign, the second-largest donation at the time.