On June 14, 2018, former director William Hinman gave a speech, telling the audience at a crypto summit that, in his view, Ether was not a security. A day before delivering the monumental speech, lawyers at the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) reviewed XRP in a legal memo and did not conclude that it should be classified as a security.
At the end of 2020, however, the SEC sued Ripple and its top executives (Brad Garlinghouse and Chris Larsen specifically) on charges that they sold and continue to sell XRP to the public in violation of federal securities law. The regulatory agency and Ripple have been embroiled in a protracted back-and-forth ever since the case was lodged.
A prominent journalist and producer at Fox Business, Eleanor Terrett, is now wondering what changed within that two-year period (from 2018 to 2020). The information was brought to the attention of Terrett by John Deaton, founder of CryptoLaw. The journalist said she will further discuss the matter with fellow Fox Business journalist Charles Gasparino later today.
Ripple Is Pushing Back Against SEC Harder Than Anyone
Jake Chervinksy, the head of policy at the Blockchain Association, recently pointed out that Ripple has put up a strong fight against the SEC in the ongoing lawsuit. Chervinksy noted that regardless of what some crypto enthusiasts may think of Ripple as a company, they must acknowledge that the payments firm has given the SEC the hardest fight of their careers.
Other companies that have previously had a run-in with the agency, including the Tesla centibillionaire Elon Musk, have ended up choosing the settlement option. Ripple, on the other hand, is fighting to the end.
All in all, experts are confident the SEC case will end in April.
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