By J. Carl Cecere. March 2, 2022. (Bloomberg Law)
This may be the year that the SEC’s enforcement authority over cryptocurrencies is settled in court, and the legal battle between the SEC and Ripple Labs is underway in the Southern District of New York, says attorney J. Carl Cecere. The SEC’s action is misguided, but the suit will test whether the commission has authority to regulate crypto as securities, which could determine the technology’s continued growth in the U.S.
Cryptocurrencies had a breakout year in 2021, which saw total cryptocurrency market cap rise above $3 trillion for the first time. And while crypto values declined since then, little suggests this is anything more than one of the temporary hiccups that have been happening since 2011 during cryptocurrency’s remarkable decade-long rise.