The XRP community has been eagerly – or anxiously – awaiting the day the SEC’s lawsuit against Ripple Labs resumes in 2022. Although scheduled for January 19, XRP investors are already preparing to make their voices heard.
Crypto lawyer John Deaton, who is representing more than 50,000 XRP-holders during the lawsuit, has become a familiar presence in the space. However, an admission on Twitter caught many of his own followers by surprise.
A reunion of the first three
In a Twitter thread where he discussed his goals for the SEC vs Ripple affair, Deaton reminded people that he also owned Bitcoin and Ether.
Naturally, this came as a shock to many, as one burning issue during the case has been the question of whether or not senior SEC officials had exchanges with stakeholders related to Ethereum that would have constituted a conflict of interest.
For his part, Deaton pointed out the difference between the Ether asset and the individuals linked to Ethereum. He noted,
“Some of you have DM’d me saying you appreciate my efforts but you are disappointed in me because I haven’t sold my #ETH based on what we’ve learned. Judge Castel, in Telegram, said it best: Cryptocurrencies and digital assets are simply “alphanumeric code.” “
He added,
“But what we DO NOT want is for the SEC to simply try to publicly cover it’s ass and serve the @ethereum Foundation and @ConsenSys or @VitalikButerin or @ethereumJoseph with subpoenas so that @GaryGensler can claim he’s being fair.”
Deaton stressed that his goal was regulatory clarity, in order to get a judge’s ruling that XRP was not a security.
United we are, divided we …
Earlier, Deaton had reminded his audience that it was dangerous to turn the SEC lawsuit into an Ether vs XRP case. The crypto lawyer noted that a Ripple victory would benefit the aftermarket package and help ease the SEC confrontation for the next company in court.
Making a big “Fife”
On 6 January, the SEC submitted a filing that used the outcome of another case in order to strengthen its own pending motion to strike Ripple’ Fair Notice Defense. The move ignited a firestorm of reactions as XRP-holders tried to guess how the results of the case between the SEC and John M. Fife might affect Ripple’s own defense in the coming weeks.
