Cynthia Lummis, an American attorney and politician serving as the junior United States senator from Wyoming since 2021, has highlighted the urgent need for the United States Congress to create a framework for the regulation of digital assets in the country after the Securities and Exchange Commission vs. Ripple lawsuit over the sale of XRP tokens
Senator Lummis took to the social media platform Twitter to discuss the recent court ruling by Judge Analisa Torres in the SEC vs. Ripple case. In her ruling, the judge said that all the XRP tokens sold via digital exchanges cannot be termed as securities. She said that it has become crucial for Congress to establish comprehensive and unambiguous regulatory policies for the digital asset industry.
“The decision [by Judge Torres] confirms the need for Congress to deliver a clear regulatory structure for the crypto asset industry that provides the highest level of consumer protection. We need to pass Lummis-Gillibrand to uphold the Howey test as interpreted by the Southern District of New York,” Lummis said.
My statement in response to the Southern District of New York’s ruling in Securities and Exchange Commission v Ripple Labs, Inc. pic.twitter.com/bmIxR0AmhT
— Senator Cynthia Lummis (@SenLummis) July 14, 2023
On the other hand, Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse said that the SEC will have to wait “years” before it can appeal the decision made by Judge Torres. The utive noted that if the securities regulator did appeal now, it would “only further” solidify the decision that Judge Torres made.
Judge Torres ruled partially in favor of the SEC as well, stating that XRP is a security when sold to institutional investors, as it meets the conditions set in the Howey Test. In an interview with Bloomberg earlier this week, Garlinghouse dismissed the institutional sales decision as “the smallest piece” of the lawsuit
“As a matter of law, the law of the land right now is that XRP is not a security. Until there is an opportunity for the SEC to file an appeal, which would take years, frankly we are very optimistic,” said Garlinghouse
It is crucial to note that recently, US Congressman Warren Davidson filed a bill in Congress to fire SEC Chair Gary Gensler for abusing his power and driving crypto firms outside of the US.
