Thread by @bgarlinghouse

One year ago today, the @SECgov filed a lawsuit against @Ripple, @chrislarsenSF and me, alleging that XRP – a public crypto that has been trading on the open market since 2013 – should have been registered as a security. 1/10

Of all the shitty things in 2020, this was certainly one to cap the year 🤣. But what I said then remains (painfully) true today: this is an attack on crypto in the US, not just Ripple. Some took the SEC’s allegations at face value/ thought this was a one off, but no longer. 2/10

2021 has been a watershed year for crypto. Acceptance and awareness of the opportunity to bring billions of people into the global financial community has never been so clear. It’s been incredible to see a lot less ‘maximalism’, and many more builders joining the industry. 3/10

Proud to say it was @Ripple’s strongest year ever (XRP-based On-Demand Liquidity payments account for 25% of $ volume across RippleNet, and ODL txns are up 25x from Q3 2020, and 130% QoQ). 4/10 ripple.com/insights/recor…

Not to mention new ODL corridors like Japan and UAE, and our CBDC solution built on a private version of the public XRPL partnering with Bhutan and Palau! All of this growth came from outside the US for (sigh) obvious reasons… 5/10

Which brings me back to the SEC. As Chair @GaryGensler seeks to expand its remit, he has taken an aggressively anti-crypto approach and companies are already moving outside the US. Web2 was built with many American companies, but Web3 (or whatever we want to call it)?

TBD! 6/10

Ignoring its prior statements, the SEC today won’t answer questions about the legal status of ETH, much less anything else. Is the agency actually living up to its mission of protecting investors w/ regulation by enforcement & what @HesterPeirce calls "strategic ambiguity"? 7/10

Calling crypto the “Wild West” is a farce – most are complying with financial regulators globally. This industry shouldn’t be punished for asking for regulatory clarity & regulation that is consistently applied with a level playing field. 8/10

Ironically enough, and a personal favorite of mine of the brilliance of @Joelkatz, this is what he predicted could happen almost 2 years before the SEC filed their lawsuit. #nostradamus 9/10

https://twitter.com/joelkatz/status/1384278907214462977

This holiday season – let’s make the time to reach out to our elected officials in Congress so they understand the need to act now. I hope the industry gets some answers instead of another lump of coal. 10/10