The enemy of the enemy is your friend. This is with the SEC. Ripple A statement that may be valid in pending litigation between Ethereum also plays a direct or indirect role in this triangle.
It all started when Ripple filed a Freedom of Information Act request with the SEC for unfair treatment. Arguably, the SEC has recently given ETH the green light for regulation. In this context, crypto lawyer John Deaton has voiced his narrative on the evolving equation between ETH and XRP in a series of tweets.
Who is the enemy?
Some have accused me of making the @Ripple case about #XRP 🆚 #ETH. It’s b/c I wrote the Facts Timeline 🧵 and the #Ether Free Pass Memo.
But the fight is against the SEC. Whether we like it or not, ironically, XRP and ETH are on the same side in the SEC case.— John E Deaton (@JohnEDeaton1) November 15, 2021
“Whether we like it or not, ironically, XRP and ETH are on the same side in the SEC lawsuit,” he said. Also, according to him, both XRP and ETH can benefit from each other’s victory. ETH rise could have a positive impact on altcoin market cap as a whole. Similarly,
“…If Ripple wins on fair notification, it guarantees an ETH victory on fair notification. Required for the fair notice defense is the June 14, 2018 Hinman speech. Ripple’s lawyers argue that this conversation gives Ripple a reasonable belief that XRP is not a security.”
The “fair notice” mentioned here is very important in Ripple’s defense. Because Ripple learned that in 2019, the SEC was approached by “a major crypto exchange or perhaps multiple exchanges” about whether XRP is a security, and the SEC failed to make a classification for years despite FinCEN doing so in 2015. The SEC has stated that Ripple’s defense is “legally invalid” to get ahead of this defensive strategy.
Moreover, in a speech in June 2018, Hinman said that “the offers and sales of ETH are not securities transactions.” Despite the difference of opinion, XRP considers itself in the same category.
“If Ripple can show XRPL and the ecosystem as decentralized as or more decentralized than Ethereum, then Ripple wins (from 2018 to present at least),” Deaton added.
The famous lawyer continued his words as follows:
“The truth is that all altcoins start out as a security. In fact, many in the SEC considered Bitcoin a security between 2010 and 2015. Herster Peirce recognized this fact.”
However, Deaton long ago claimed that many current and former SEC officials had conflicts of interest. It specifically targeted former SEC Chairman Jay Clayton (who filed the Ripple lawsuit) and William Hinman, the SEC’s Director of Corporate Finance.
According to the attorney, Clayton’s previous law firm once represented the co-founders of Ethereum. He also claimed that Hinman’s former law firm Simpson was a board member of Thacher & Bartlett’s Enterprise Ethereum Alliance.
Finally, he made an important assessment for the crypto community:
“The fight is against the SEC. Ironically, whether we like it or not, XRP and ETH are on the same side in the SEC lawsuit.”