A prominent lawyer supporting Ripple in their legal battle against the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has made bold claims about the regulator’s tactics.
According to the lawyer, the SEC strategically used Ripple’s transparency against the company and its CEO, Brad Garlinghouse.
The SEC’s case against Ripple and Brad Garlinghouse is built on a misconception. Ripple’s transparency and willingness to engage with regulators have been manipulated and turned against them.
Pro-Ripple Lawyer Accuses SEC of Exploiting Ripple’s Transparency
A founder of Crypto-Law.US, lawyer John Deaton, has voiced his concerns regarding the SEC’s treatment of Ripple and the broader cryptocurrency industry.
Deaton’s comments came in response to a tweet by @lex_node discussing the importance of “KYC-ish crypto things” for system security and centralization.
Deaton agreed with the notion that significant token holders should be obligated to disclose their identities and the percentage of token supply they control. He further highlighted Ripple Labs’ efforts in implementing cryptographic escrow and publishing quarterly reports on XRP sales as a display of transparency.
However, Deaton claimed that the SEC has exploited this very transparency to the detriment of Ripple and its CEO, Brad Garlinghouse, in the ongoing legal battle. John Deaton’s remarks shed light on the complex dynamics between
Furthermore, Deaton revealed an intriguing detail from a speech by former SEC director William Hinman in 2018. During the speech, Hinman was asked about the SEC’s knowledge of the token ownership of Ethereum co-founders Joseph Lubin and Vitalik Buterin. While Hinman confirmed that the SEC had the information, he claimed to have no recollection of the specific numbers or percentages of token ownership.
The involvement of Ripple’s CEO, Brad Garlinghouse, has also become a focal point in the case. The pro-Ripple lawyer claims that Garlinghouse’s personal reputation and transparent communication have been unfairly used against him.
The Significance of Hinman’s Speech in the XRP Lawsuit
The XRP lawsuit between Ripple and the US SEC continues to unfold, with recent developments shedding light on the role of Ethereum and the infamous speech by William Hinman, former director of the SEC’s Corporation Finance division, in 2018.
The revelation of the Hinman speech and associated documents has sparked optimism among XRP supporters, suggesting a potential resolution to the lawsuit in the near future. It has also been reported that the SEC favors Ethereum over other cryptocurrencies.
While the SEC previously classified both Bitcoin and Ethereum as commodities, exempting them from regulatory actions, SEC Chairman Gary Gensler has hinted at the possibility of Ethereum being reclassified as a security. In response to these developments, lawyer John Deaton recently took to Twitter to clarify his stance on XRP’s classification as a security.
The implications of Hinman’s speech and the evolving regulatory landscape surrounding cryptocurrencies add an additional layer of complexity to the ongoing XRP lawsuit.
