In the latest interview, the Commissioner of SEC, Hester Peirce, has said that the SEC can do better on providing clarity of regulations as enforcement should not be the only way towards guidance. Popularly known as the Crypto Mom, Peirce finally makes her first public remark since the ongoing case between SEC and Ripple. On Dec. 22, the SEC sued Ripple and two of its top executives for allegedly raising over $1.3 billion via the unregistered sale of the XRP token.
Hester Peirce Provides First Public Remarks Over Ripple Lawsuit
Amid the ongoing litigation, Pierce has declined to make a specific comment on the Ripple lawsuit, pointing that her views were her own and not necessarily those of the SEC or her colleagues.
The community has been wondering how SEC Commissioner @HesterPeirce voted on the lawsuit against Ripple. However, #CryptoMom clarifies that she can't yet reveal the voting results.
Full interview coming soon. #WordontheBlock pic.twitter.com/WVBdwVEi1U
— Forkast News (@Forkast_News) January 8, 2021
The confusion still persists whether XRP is a currency or security among different regulatory bodies. For instance, back in 2015, the U.S. Treasury Department’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) classified XRP as a digital currency.
When asked about the contractions between regulatory bodies, Peirce said that each agency has its own set of rules to follow:
“We have this very open-ended category called an ‘investment contract. So something might be characterized as one thing by another agency, yet still be a security under our rules, and that can be frustrating for people.”
Hence, Hester Peirce has urged SEC on providing better regulatory clarity:
“That’s why I have called for more clarity, because I actually think it can be difficult to determine whether something fits within the security bucket or not, and we could do more to provide some guideposts for what that would be.”
Several Entities Deplatformed XRP Support Since Lawsuit
In the wake of SEC’s lawsuits against Ripple, several crypto platforms have discontinued support for XRP. For instance, on 5 January, crypto-asset manager Grayscale became the latest entity to remove XRP from its digital large-cap fund.
A notable point to be made here is that the lawsuit is due in virtual court on Feb. 22nd, 2020. If Ripple loses against SEC on the lawsuit, XRP might be untradable across crypto exchanges.