Key Takeaways:
- Former Securities and Exchange Commission chair Jay Clayton has slammed Gary Gensler
- Clayton led the SEC when the agency sued Ripple, calling the XRP token a security
- Meanwhile, the XRP community has called Clayton a hypocrite
YEREVAN (CoinChapter.com) — Jay Clayton, the former Chairman of the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has slammed Gary Gensler, the current occupant of his former position. The strong criticism comes amid Gensler’s crackdowns on the cryptocurrency industry. Interestingly, it was Clayton, who in 2020, charged Ripple with offering unregistered securities in the form of the XRP token. He went after the company just before stepping down from his role at the SEC.
Also Read: SEC crackdown on crypto exchanges Binance and Coinbase an “inside job” from Wall Street?
Former SEC Chair Disagrees With Gary Gensler’s Approach
Gary Gensler’s anti-crypto approach has drawn strong criticism from various industry players. However, his predecessor’s remarks come as a huge setback for the SEC chief.
Clayton was giving an interview to CNBC’s ‘Squawk Box’ when he voiced his concerns regarding the agency’s aggressive litigation tactics.
During the interview, Clayton referred to Gensler’s previous statements to show how appalled he is with the approach.
“What you are hearing from the leaders of the regulatory organizations, is if we’re not losing cases, if we are not being pushed back by the court’s we aren’t doing enough. Think about that for a second. That is a fundamental shift in how we, as Americans, view the role of the Government,”
he said.
Clayton sees Gensler’s policies as a significant shift in how Americans perceive the government’s role and disagrees with Gensler’s approach.
Sharing the interview on his Twitter page, Gemini exchange co-founder Cameron Winklevoss called Gensler’s actions a “total abuse of power.”
Others called him a politician, instead of a regulator, who “won’t get the Treasury seat he covets”.
XRP Community Slams Hypocrite Jay Clayton
The comments from the former SEC Chairman have drawn strong criticism from the XRP community. Several of them took to Twitter to slam Jay Clayton over his comments on Gary Gensler.
His remarks, according to them, have shown his hypocrite. During the interview with CNBC, Clayton remarked that he does not want authorities to initiate cases where they were not sure they can win.
This, coming from a man who sued Ripple and its executives, is arguably rich. When he labeled the allegations against the company in December 2020, he couldn’t have been sure that he would win the case.
“What an amazing hypocrite. He brought a case against Ripple one day before retiring knowing full well the SEC had a good chance of losing on Howey prongs, all to support insiders. His audacity is incomprehensible,”
Santiago Velez, the Co-Founder & Division Lead (R&D) at Block Digital Corporation wrote.
Another user called Jay Clayton “the biggest hypocrite ever” while HASHR Ventures called him a “duplicitous scoundrel”.
Gary Gensler’s anti-crypto industry policies and his repeated lawsuits against industry players are counterproductive and fail to address the core issues that require regulatory attention.
Related: How do crypto exchanges register with the SEC? They can’t! Coinbase & Robinhood tried
