Ripple’s Chief Legal Officer (CLO), Stuart Alderoty, has publicly criticized the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) for requesting nearly $2 billion in penalties in their ongoing legal battle with the San Francisco-based company. Alderoty described the SEC’s demand as evidence of continued intimidation against the cryptocurrency industry.
On March 22, the SEC asked the court to impose a $1.95 billion penalty on Ripple for allegedly violating Section 5 of the Securities Act through its sales of XRP to institutional investors. However, Ripple has filed a rebuttal, arguing that the court should not award the SEC more than $10 million in civil penalties.
Alderoty’s comments on Ripple’s opposition to the SEC’s request have garnered attention in the crypto community. He emphasized that the $2 billion sought by the SEC is excessive, especially since the lawsuit does not involve allegations of fraud or recklessness. Additionally, Alderoty pointed out that Ripple has already achieved victories on significant issues in the lawsuit, such as programmatic sales and other XRP distributions.
Furthermore, Alderoty criticized the SEC, suggesting that its demand for such a large fine is a tactic to intimidate the U.S. crypto industry. Despite the SEC’s hefty demand, Alderoty expressed confidence in the impartiality of the judge overseeing the case.
It is worth mentioning that Alderoty had previously criticized the SEC’s demand for nearly $2 billion in penalties, accusing the regulator of making false statements to mislead the public instead of properly applying the law.
In unrelated news, two SEC lawyers, Joseph Watkins and Michael Welsh, have resigned following a federal judge’s sanction against the SEC for providing misleading information to obtain a temporary restraining order against DEBT Box. The judge ordered the SEC to pay DEBT Box’s legal fees and denied the commission’s request to withdraw the case without prejudice. Bloomberg reports that the commission asked the lawyers to resign or face contract termination, and they chose to resign.
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