Ripple Effect

Little bit aggro, but also sort of the mood right now. The main impact of the Ripple decision is that it tears apart the premise that regulation by enforcement has ever been a smart or viable tactic. Now the SEC has lost their talking points around their perfect record on enforcement because they picked a fight with a defendant with the actual resources to fight back (which might be telling as the Coinbase lit moves forward). So while crypto Twitter is reacting to the decision – as usual, this involves a lot of questionable takes on the details and implications of the judge’s ruling. How the issues ultimately play out on appeal is TBD … as is whether other judges rule similarly (or inconsistently, continuing the chaos of regulation by enforcement). However, the goal is really to pass workable legislation in the near term and the Ripple outcome is an important win for the industry as it undermines the SEC’s record in court and therefore the Dems having confidence in the SEC approach as some sort of effective regulatory stance (which it is not). It will be interesting to see if this brings Dems to the table in the next few weeks and whether DAMS/stablecoin legislation has more of a shot of moving forward post-Ripple. …