Ripple, a leading cryptocurrency solutions provider, commits itself to a climate pledge. The firm aims to attain net zero carbon emissions by 2040, approximately ten years ahead of the Paris agreement. Ripple joined the Amazon co-founded climate pledge of 2019, aiming to create a cross-sector between organizations, communities, partners, and individuals. These groups need to work together to handle the issue of climate change, including decarbonizing the economy.
The Three Pillars of the Climate Pledge
Signatories that sign The Climate Pledge commit to the following three principles:
- Regular Reporting
- Carbon Elimination
- Credible Offsets
The blockchain company joins hundreds of other companies in committing to a greener future. Ripple joined more than 375 companies to achieve net zero carbon emissions by 2040 to create a more sustainable future through the climate pledge. Co-founded by Amazon (NASDAQ: AMZN) in 2019, the Climate Pledge’s signatories include companies from 51 industries and 29 countries. The climate pledge is a decade ahead of the Paris Agreement on carbon emissions. The agreement aims at achieving a net zero. In mid-September, Jed McCaleb launched his new space company called Vast. The goal was to build human habitations in space.
Ripple Signs Pledge Amid Court Cases with the SEC
Even as Ripple is signing the pledge, it still has court cases with the SEC. The SEC sued Ripple for issuing unregistered Ripple ($XRP) tokens. The regulators say they are not going to approve specific processes used by Ripple. Brad Garlinghouse accuses the blockchain company of bringing in more than a billion dollars at legal costs.
Feingold recently reported that the token issuance does not include an investment contract, which guarantees investors’ rights or obliges the issuer to act on their behalf. Ripple has introduced a new argument arguing that tokens cannot be securities.
Even Stuart Alderoty, Ripple’s general counsel, said he is among those in the crypto market who vehemently opposed the SEC’s approach to crypto regulation. Alterity mentioned the regulatory uncertainty of the U.S. crypto market during a recent live interview on 20 September 2022. His focus was on the overreaching of SEC Chairman Gary Gensler.
According to Even Stuart, Gary Gensler mentioned that Bitcoin (BTC) is the only cryptocurrency not subject to SEC regulation. Accordingly, all crypto assets other than BTC are safe and should be regulated by the authority. In response to the comments, Alderoty suggests that he is unaware of any crypto election that led to Gensler being a crypto cop.
Is the SEC Biased Towards Crypto?
Amid the ongoing lawsuit filed against Ripple Labs in 2020 by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), the blockchain company has made new allegations in its motion to dismiss the lawsuit filed over the weekend.
Bloomberg’s Chris Dolmetch mentions that the XRP token from Ripple is not valuable. This is because no investment treaty entitles investors to act on their behalf. They argued that they could not be considered securities. The SEC alleges that blockchain companies’ tokens are without regulatory approval. They have failed to register them as securities, which violates the country’s securities laws.
Suing Ripple only increases hatred and criticism towards the SEC. The SEC is criticized for its regulatory stance on the crypto industry because it has hampered the booming market expansion. The crypto community wants the market to grow, but the SEC seems to block every step. The SEC is onto every detail, even insignificant things. Judging from Ripple’s argument in court, the SEC should focus on preventing crypto-related fraud instead of suing large crypto firms for minor things.
