Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse took shots at the United States Securities and Exchange Commission Chair (SEC), Gary Gensler, during an appearance at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. 

A new chair of the SEC?

“I do think the chair of the SEC, Gary Gensler, is a political liability in the United States,” Garlinghouse told CNBC’s Arjun Kharpal. “And I think he’s not acting in the interests of the citizenry, he’s not acting in the interests of the long-term growth of the economy, and I don’t understand it.”

“I think at some point there will be a new chair of the SEC, and I think that will be a good thing for the American people,” Garlinghouse stated.

Spot bitcoin ETF approval

Garlinghouse’s comments follow the SEC’s approval of several spot bitcoin ETFs last week, marking a watershed moment for increased mainstream adoption of cryptocurrency in the U.S.

However, the federal agency faced scrutiny as they fell victim to a hack on X the day before their mass ETF approval, resulting in a post falsely claiming the SEC had already approved numerous spot bitcoin ETFs.

“The @SECGov twitter account was compromised, and an unauthorized tweet was Gensler posted to his X account on January 9th. “The SEC has not approved the listing and trading of spot bitcoin exchange-traded products.”

Disgruntled members of the cryptocurrency community took to social media to vent their frustrations about the SEC, including Gemini co-founder, Tyler Winklevoss. 

“Today, the @SECGov continued its quest to harm US investors,” Winklevoss wrote. “Time for the SEC to hold the SEC accountable!”

Similarly, Garlinghouse himself posted in part that “the SEC should be investigating itself for multiple things.”

Shortly after, the Federal Bureau of Investigations announced they were looking into who caused the hack. 

The SEC and Ripple Face-Off

Meanwhile, Ripple is currently facing a lawsuit from the SEC over claims that the company and its executive sold XRP as unregistered securities. Charges alleging that Garlinghouse violated U.S. securities law were officially dropped last October.

Last week, the SEC filed a motion asking Ripple to formally disclose its financial statements for both 2022 and 2023, as well as their post-complaint contracts governing institutional sales.

Glaringhouse’s latest comments are just the latest in a string of statements the Ripple CEO has made criticizing the SEC.

“So I think at some point, the SEC has to step back and realize that their approach of regulation through enforcement, let’s just bring lawsuits, that has to break,” Garlinghouse told CNBC last year.

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