So here's a story about how regulatory winds change in Washington. Ripple (XRP) CEO Brad Garlinghouse took to social media on Monday to praise the current leadership at the Securities and Exchange Commission while delivering some pretty sharp criticism of the agency's recent past.
Garlinghouse said the regulator under former Chair Gary Gensler had "declared war on a technology" and lost its way. "It was an unlawful power grab…and the courts said as much," he stated, apparently referencing the SEC v. DEBT Box case where a federal judge found the regulator had committed a "gross abuse of power."
That's strong language from someone whose company spent five years in legal battle with the SEC over the status of XRP, the cryptocurrency at the center of Ripple's operations. That case finally ended in August last year after the Trump administration assumed office.
Now contrast that with how Garlinghouse describes current SEC Chair Paul Atkins, whom he called a "breath of fresh air and sanity." "He's focusing on what matters – protecting investors and fostering innovations that help those investors and the markets," the Ripple CEO added.
Gensler, who is currently a professor at the MIT Sloan School of Management, didn't immediately return a request for comment.
What's interesting here is how personal this has become for the crypto industry. Garlinghouse has repeatedly criticized the SEC's approach during Gensler's tenure, cautioning that the industry must not allow a repeat. He previously admitted that the establishment of Fairshake, a cryptocurrency-focused super PAC, was a direct response to Gensler's actions against the industry.
Ripple was the biggest donor to that effort, pledging $45 million to the pool dedicated to supporting and electing cryptocurrency-friendly candidates to Congress. That's not just complaining – that's putting serious money into changing the political landscape.
Meanwhile, Atkins has been expressing his vision for the U.S. to become the "crypto capital of the world." He has argued that traditional SEC rules are not fit for purpose and create marketplace uncertainty, thus driving the need for the Clarity Act.
But not everyone is celebrating this shift. Democrats believe the SEC is facing serious reputational damage, pointing to its dropped lawsuits against Binance (BNB) and Tron (TRX) founder Justin Sun.
So you've got this interesting dynamic: the crypto industry feels like it's finally getting a regulator who understands them, while critics worry the agency is backing down from enforcement. And all of this is happening while XRP trades at $1.42, up 1.22% in the last 24 hours.
What's clear is that after years of conflict, the relationship between crypto companies and their main U.S. regulator is undergoing a significant shift. Whether that shift represents better regulation or weaker enforcement depends on who you ask.
.jpeg)
