"Regardless of the outcome of the @Ripple case, it is clear that the SEC, Clayton, and Hinman should not have hijacked the policy process by taking advantage of a vacuum of clear boundaries on how far agencies can stick their noses into these issues." (1/7) https://spectator.org/crypto-regulations-congress/

(2/7) "This is especially important given what both Clayton and Hinman were doing before they came to the highest levels of the SEC and what they’ve been doing since they left public service."

(3/7) "Clayton works for One River Digital Asset Management, an investment hedge fund focused exclusively on the two cryptocurrencies he helped at the SEC — Bitcoin and Ether."

(4/7) "Hinman has gone back to the venerated, white-shoe law firm of Simpson Thacher & Bartlett. Simpson Thacher is part of the Enterprise Ethereum Alliance, an entity that looks at the uses of Ethereum’s blockchain technologies beyond just the cryptocurrency side."

(5/7) "But it’s Clayton and Hinman’s work with China that should be especially concerning. Both were signatories to the filings with the SEC in the IPO for marketplace giant Alibaba, and China has focused on massively scaling up the nation’s ability to “mine” Bitcoin."

(6/7) "[O]ne thing that would concern the Chinese government is competition from other cryptocurrencies — currencies like XRP. By taking government action and effectively tying up the trading of XRP, those who control the mining of Bitcoin and Ether could benefit enormously."

(7/7) "While the U.S. is hamstringing the world’s best cryptocurrency creators with legal and regulatory proceedings, China is rocketing ahead with a digital currency of its own by ripping off the innovations of others ..." by @Andrew_Langer via @amspectator