Former SEC Chair Defends Ripple Labs

Debevoise & Plimpton attorney Mary Jo White, who represents Ripple Labs in its SEC lawsuit, claims the agency she formerly chaired has gone overboard in respect to her client. In a recent interview with Fortune, she said the SEC is “dead wrong legally and factually.” The SEC alleges that Ripple’s sale of the digital asset XRP is an example of a firm taking advantage of a speculative investment. Under law, a firm that does so must provide proper disclosures to help investors understand what they’re purchasing. White counters that the agency’s argument and requirements are misleading in respect to XRP, and its inability to provide a relevant set of regulatory guidelines for crypto has led it to attempt to “fit a round peg in a square hole.” She also calls the lawsuit arbitrary considering it earlier stated that Ethereum, the world’s second-largest cryptocurrency, which was developed after XRP, is not classified as a security.