Mark Cuban, a Shark Tank star and owner of the NBA team Dallas Mavericks, has weighed in on the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) v. Ripple case regarding XRP. “The current mission of the SEC is not to protect small investors,” the billionaire asserted. “Their goal is to litigate. And litigate more. And litigate more.”
Mark Cuban Weighs in on SEC v. Ripple Case
Shark Tank star and the owner of the NBA team Dallas Mavericks, Mark Cuban, has shared his thoughts on Twitter concerning the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) v. Ripple case regarding XRP.
Commenting on the SEC’s filing in the lawsuit against Terraform Labs and co-founder Do Kwon, where the regulator alleged that the Ripple ruling was “wrongly decided,” Cuban criticized the securities watchdog for referring to “every buyer as an investor in their filing.” The billionaire argued:
That’s not the case and Ripple made that clear. Securities have one purpose, to be a security. For a defi or CEX buyer, it’s impossible to know why a buyer buys. But it is possible to look at the Blockchain and see there are transactions based on the utility of the token.
The Shark Tank star warned on July 14, one day after the Ripple ruling, that “The SEC can still go after exchanges for selling tokens because they feel they regulate the exchanges.”
He described: “Of course, there is a lot of grey in this ruling, but the SEC could have gone the route of Japan and set rules to protect investors. Instead, they choose to always litigate to regulate. Think about that approach from the perspective of a small investor or a small entrepreneur looking to start a crypto company. The SEC expects both to hire securities attorneys to provide guidance. (I know. We called them to ask them what to do for a company I’m involved with).”
Cuban opined:
The only reasonable conclusion, is that the current mission of the SEC is not to protect small investors. It never has been. (See the billions of shares trading in bankrupt companies … and in crazy pink sheet and OTC companies). Their goal is to litigate. And litigate more. And litigate more.
“All this could go away if Congress or the SEC set brightline rules,” the Dallas Mavericks owner concluded.
Earlier this month, Cuban said the SEC chose the wrong path to regulate crypto, stating that the regulator was “arrogant in thinking that its framework covered every possible situation.” In June, he offered suggestions on how the SEC could regulate the crypto industry.
Following the Ripple ruling, several U.S. lawmakers called on Congress to pass legislation to regulate crypto. The SEC has indicated that it will appeal the Ripple ruling. SEC Chairman Gary Gensler said last week that the securities regulator is “disappointed” in the court ruling on retail investors but will continue to bring crypto firms into compliance. The SEC has also asked Congress for more funding in order to tackle crypto risks and wrongdoing.
