Stuart Alderoty, the chief legal officer at Ripple, recently took to the social media platform X to react to Consensys's recent lawsuit against the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). He stated that his perspective from 2022 has held up well.

Challenging the SEC's Expansive Jurisdiction

As reported by U.Today, the Ethereum backer criticized the regulator's efforts to expand its jurisdiction by classifying the leading altcoin as a security. Consensys argues that the SEC is harming developers and market participants while hindering innovation with its hostile approach to cryptocurrencies.

In May 2022, Alderoty had stated that labeling every token besides Bitcoin as a security is "a combination of bad law and bad policy all in the name of the SEC's political land grab over this asset class." He emphasized that the regulator's jurisdiction is not limitless.

From Allies to Adversaries?

On April 10th, the SEC staff sent a "Wells Notice" to Consensys, indicating their intention to bring an enforcement action against the company. The regulator also informed Consensys that the popular Metamask wallet was violating securities laws by acting as an unregistered broker-dealer.

Consensys has hired attorneys from Watchtell, a renowned litigation firm, to fight against the regulator, following Coinbase's footsteps. This suggests that Consensys is taking a strong stance against the SEC's actions.

Notably, Consensys boss Joseph Lubin had previously stated that they were "big friends and fans" of the SEC, and believed the regulator understood the space well, considering the Ethereum network token and its issuance mechanism to be decentralized and not subject to securities transactions.