Ripple President Asserts SEC is Targeting the Crypto Industry

At the Money20/20 fintech conference in Amsterdam on Tuesday, Ripple President Monica Long criticized the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) for its approach to the cryptocurrency industry.

Long discussed the efforts of the Fairshake Super Political Action Committee (PAC) and the broader crypto industry's support for political candidates who are favorable to cryptocurrency regulations. She told Reuters that the PAC is bipartisan, focusing solely on backing candidates who advocate for regulatory frameworks preferred by the crypto sector. Ripple recently increased its contributions to Fairshake by $25 million, matching similar donations from Andreessen Horowitz (a16z) and Coinbase.

The Ripple president remarked:

"As an industry, particularly for U.S.-based companies, we are frustrated with how far behind the U.S. is in establishing regulations. The approach of setting rules through enforcement is unproductive and isn't making any progress."

The crypto industry is intensifying its efforts to influence U.S. legislation amid heightened regulatory scrutiny and political attention. The SEC has sued several major crypto firms, including Ripple, Coinbase, and Kraken, for securities law violations, seeking to impose $2 billion in fines on Ripple. Recently, Congress passed a resolution to overturn the SEC’s contentious Staff Accounting Bulletin 121 (SAB 121), which enforces rules potentially detrimental to the crypto sector. Nonetheless, President Joe Biden rejected the resolution.

Long emphasized that the SEC appears to be on a “warpath” against the crypto industry in recent years, expressing a collective desire for a “change in tone.”