Ripple lawyer urges fact-check of Gary Gensler’s speech, says SEC actions seen as ‘shady’

SEC Chair Gary Gensler shared a speech on X, triggering heated reactions across the crypto community.

As Gary Gensler reiterated the United States Securities and Exchange Commission’s mandate in a speech, Ripple’s lawyer and various crypto community members responded, criticizing the SEC chair and arguing that the commissioner’s words contradict his actions.

On Nov. 16, SEC Chair Gary Gensler shared a video of him conducting a speech at the 2023 Securities Enforcement Forum. In the speech, he highlighted the words of the first SEC chair, Joseph P. Kennedy, saying that the government agency should be “partners of honest business and prosecutors of dishonesty.”

As Joseph P. Kennedy, the first @SECGov Chair, once said: “We are not prosecutors of honest business, nor defenders of crookedness. We are partners of honest business & prosecutors of dishonesty. We shall not prejudge, but we shall investigate.”

Check out my recent remarks: pic.twitter.com/QM2zqj8PQs

— Gary Gensler (@GaryGensler) November 16, 2023

The post on X (formerly Twitter) triggered responses from various crypto community members, including Ripple chief legal officer Stuart Alderoty, who is currently engaged in a legal battle against the SEC. According to Alderoty, the SEC chair’s recent remarks should be fact-checked and that Gensler has “prejudged crypto and has filed suit against others without investigation.”

The SEC is losing in court; being criticized by Judges for shady behavior; being rebuked by the Gov’t’s internal auditor; hiding info about meetings with a felon; becoming irrelevant on the international stage. Gensler – admitting no fault – has become the insulate Col. Jessep. pic.twitter.com/vqjPPcifr8

— Stuart Alderoty (@s_alderoty) November 16, 2023

Alderoty also highlighted that Ripple was sued but was “never charged with dishonesty.” The Ripple executive also threw some accusations toward the SEC and said that they are being criticized for “shady behavior” and are becoming “irrelevant” internationally.

Related: Gary Gensler links crypto with cash in viral 2018 video — Crypto Twitter reacts

Apart from Alderoty, various crypto community members also responded to the video that Gensler shared. Erik Voorhees, founder and CEO of trading platform ShapeShift, responded to the tweet, saying that Gensler has prosecuted his “honest business” twice.

Meanwhile, a community member also responded to Gensler’s remarks, saying that what he quoted “was the vision”; However, the Twitter user argued that it has evolved for the worse, accusing the SEC of facilitating the “legitimization of a corrupt system.”

Magazine: Sam Bankman-Fried convicted, PayPal faces SEC subpoena, and other news: Hodler’s Digest