Ripple legal chief says Chevron ruling won't change SEC's stance

Ripple's (CRYPTO:XRP) Chief Legal Officer, Stuart Alderoty, believes that the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision to overturn the Chevron USA Inc. vs. Natural Resources Defense Council case will have minimal impact on the SEC’s approach to regulating the crypto industry. 

In a conversation with Cointelegraph’s Turner Wright, Alderoty emphasised that the SEC's strategy is unlikely to shift unless there is a change in leadership at the agency. 

“I think under this leadership, the SEC has done tremendous institutional damage to what was once a very well-respected agency,” said Alderoty. 

He pointed out that the SEC's pattern of pursuing compliance through enforcement has not changed, and recent appeals, including those in the ongoing Ripple lawsuit, are part of a deliberate effort to create confusion within the industry. 

"This SEC, under this leadership, I don't think they much care if they're right or wrong as a matter of law. 

I think their goal is through a massive wave of enforcement actions — and now on appeal — to keep a cloud of legal uncertainty over the industry," Alderoty stated, calling the SEC’s aggressive legal stance "very disturbing." 

The discussion also touched on the Supreme Court's June 2024 decision to overturn the long-standing precedent from Chevron in the Loper Bright Enterprises vs. Raimondo case. 

The original Chevron ruling from 1984 had allowed courts to defer to regulatory agencies, giving them significant authority in their interpretation of rules. 

The reversal was seen by some as a chance to challenge the SEC's broad regulatory approach, but Alderoty remains skeptical that this will change the agency's behavior without leadership changes. 

For the crypto sector, the overturning of Chevron was seen as a potential opening to push back against what Alderoty and others see as overly stringent regulatory demands. 

However, the SEC’s ongoing actions suggest it remains committed to its current enforcement-led strategy, a concern Alderoty emphasised.

At the time of writing, the XRP price was $0.5473.