Stuart Alderoty, Ripple's chief legal officer, has accused U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission Chair Gary Gensler of breaking the law by exceeding his statutory authority. 

This comes after Gensler told the Financial Times that the regulator is adjusting to recent legal losses. 

Not backing down 

Despite facing setbacks in courts, Gensler is determined to move forward with his agency, which includes reigning in the cryptocurrency industry. 

In July 2023, Judge Analisa Torres delivered a setback for the SEC by determining that secondary sales of the Ripple-linked XRP token were not securities. Even though the decision has failed to gain traction, there is some speculation that the SEC might not appeal the ruling in order not to elevate it. 

In August 2023, Grayscale scored a major legal win against the SEC, which paved the way for the eventual approval of several spot Bitcoin ETFs in January. 

The SEC also recently greenlit several spot Ethereum ETFs in a sudden reversal. 

Crypto is rife with fraud  

Gensler told the Financial Times that he was still concerned about thousands of cryptocurrency tokens without proper disclosures. 

The SEC boss noted that the cryptocurrency industry was still teeming with fraud. 

At the Bloomberg Invest Summit in New York, Gensler noted that the industry leaders are "either in jail, about to go to jail, or awaiting extradition."

In response to the remark, Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse recalled that Gensler failed to prevent the FTX fraud.