Ripple’s General Counsel, Stuart Alderoty, recently paid tribute to the late Harvey Pitt, former Chairman of the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), in a tweet expressing his gratitude for his contributions. Alderoty stated that Ripple owes Harvey gratitude for providing a comprehensive description that enables the SEC to enforce compliance with securities laws.
The Ripple General Counsel further quoted Pitt’s argument in the Tetragon vs. Ripple case, highlighting that it is the responsibility of the court, not the Commission, to decide whether an asset qualifies as security. In his report, Pitt clarified that once the SEC initiates a lawsuit, the role of commissioners shifts to that of legal advocates for their position. The former SEC chairman also emphasized that the court has the ultimate decision-making authority on whether the asset in question qualifies as security.
It is worth noting that the lawsuit against Ripple filed by the SEC took over two years, leading Ripple to spend approximately $200 million defending itself. The SEC accuses Ripple of selling an asset as an unregistered security, while Ripple argues that the asset should be considered a digital currency rather than a security.
Alongside XRP, the SEC recently identified various other crypto assets as securities, including ADA, CHZ, SOL, AXS, FIL, ICP, FLOW, NEAR, MATIC, VGX, SAND, DASH, BNB, BUSD, ATOM, MANA, ALGO, and COTI. Following the SEC’s decision, the commission faced several criticisms from the crypto community.
SEC Chairman Gary Gensler claimed that most cryptocurrencies, except for Bitcoin, could be regarded as securities. However, he did not provide any further clarification on how he arrived at this conclusion. In a recent tweet, Alderoty stated that the Securities and Exchange Commission did not have a magic regulatory wand to convert tokens into securities, contrary to Gensler’s remarks. He added that he looked forward to how the Congress and the courts would continue to pursue the case.
