Deaton Reveals How Industry Leaders, SEC and Competitors United Against Ripple
Lawyer and XRP supporter John Deaton recently stated that it is difficult to truly measure the damage caused by the SEC’s lawsuit against Ripple and XRP to Ripple’s business. Back in 2012, when the founders of Ripple created XRP, stablecoins did not exist and the global payments market was wide open to innovation.
At the time, Ripple was deciding whether to focus on smart contracts or payments. Ultimately, Ripple chose to focus on cross-border payments, which he believes made sense given the size of the market and the lack of stablecoins at the time.
In 2019, Coinbase listed XRP and promoted it as a fast and cheap way to send money internationally. Later that year, MoneyGram began using XRP for transfers. But just 18 months later, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filed a lawsuit claiming that all XRP (however purchased) were unregistered securities.
After the lawsuit, Coinbase delisted XRP and MoneyGram switched to XLM. But Deaton asked, is there really a legal difference between using XRP or XLM to make payments? However, Jed McCaleb, the creator of XLM, is also the co-founder of Ripple. Deaton believes the SEC’s lawsuit is too broad. He also noted that many of the people who pushed for lawsuits against Ripple later worked for Ripple’s competitors.
“But when you look at the circumstances of how this case was filed, including the huge conflicts of interest and the fact that the people behind the lawsuit continue to help or work for competitors of Ripple/XRP, you don’t have to be a fan to speak out,” he concluded.
The story of Ripple and the SEC continues:
The legal battle between Ripple and the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has had a huge impact on XRP since the lawsuit began in December 2020. The critical moment came on July 13, 2023, when Judge Analisa Torres ruled that XRP was not a security, making XRP no longer a security. is an important regulatory decision. However, the SEC filed an appeal on October 17 challenging parts of the ruling. The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) must file opening briefs by January 15, 2025, to keep the case in the public eye.
