By Jared Whitley. (Townhall). October 12, 2024.
After 21 years with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), enforcement director Gurbir Grewal, has resigned. Why? The same day that Gary Gensler’s head of enforcement announced his resignation, the SEC appealed its most famous crypto enforcement action against Ripple, challenging the recent civil penalties ruling, prolonging the case even further. Ripple’s Chief Legal Officer Stu Alderoty took notice of the parallel moves, as Grewal’s resignation was announced a mere hour before the filing.
Gensler is undoubtedly aware of his political fall from grace, if he were ever held in high regard. Indeed, Commissioner Hester Pierce dared to openly challenge his policies during the House hearing and Gensler’s hands began to visibly tremble throughout. Rep. Warren Davidson (R-OH) asked Peirce if the SEC’s enforcement agenda “reflects the priorities of the commissioners as a whole,” or if it is “an extension of Chairman Gensler’s agenda?” Peirce was blunt: “The agenda is the chairman’s agenda,” and that there are “other things we should be spending our time on.”
There is no clearer example of Gensler’s muddled agenda than the prolonged litigation battle between the SEC and the U.S. crypto payments company Ripple. The SEC made over-the-top legal allegations as a proxy fight against the entire crypto industry and has dragged the case out for almost four years (and counting) in a naked attempt to bulldoze the company’s business. The case centered on Ripple’s sales of the XRP token to a variety of buyers, including anonymous trades on public exchanges.
Read the full piece here: Townhall.