For the famous and never-ending Ripple-SEC lawsuit, CryptoLaw founder John Deaton expressed his opinion on Twitter, saying that the SEC is wrong in wanting to categorize ETH and XRP as securities, and that they should be commodities instead.
Summary
Ripple-SEC: John Deaton and the categorization of XRP and ETH as commodities
In a roundup of tweets, CryptoLaw founder John Deaton released his views on the never-ending Ripple-SEC lawsuit, saying he thinks the SEC is wrong in classifying ETH and XRP as securities.
I’m not saying the gov’t shouldn’t go after bad actors. ETH like XRP is alphanumeric code. If the SEC labeled ETH itself a security it would be wrong. Going after individuals who broke the law is different.
— John E Deaton (@JohnEDeaton1) September 4, 2022
“I’m not saying the gov’t shouldn’t go after bad actors. ETH like XRP is alphanumeric code. If the SEC labeled ETH itself a security it would be wrong. Going after individuals who broke the law is different.”
Not only that, in another tweet, Deaton says that XRP as well as ETH, ALGO, ADA and XLM should be considered commodities rather than securities.
Although Vitalik’s comment was demoralizing and stupid, it doesn’t mean I would support the government attacking today’s #ETH the way it has other tokens.
Tokens like #XRP, #ETH, #ALGO, #ADA, #XLM, etc., traded for 5-10 years should be treated as commodities, not securities.
— John E Deaton (@JohnEDeaton1) September 3, 2022
“Although Vitalik’s comment was demoralizing and stupid, it doesn’t mean I would support the government attacking today’s #ETH the way it has other tokens. Tokens like #XRP, #ETH, #ALGO, #ADA, #XLM, etc., traded for 5-10 years should be treated as commodities, not securities.”
Ripple-SEC: According to SEC Chairman Gary Gensler, Bitcoin is a commodity
The issue over crypto classification starts with the never-ending Ripple-SEC lawsuit, which saw the Securities and Exchange Commission accuse Ripple Labs and its executives of selling $1.3 billion of XRP in an unregistered security offering. In response, Ripple argued that XRP should not be considered as a security, invalidating the lawsuit.
During 2022, characterized by a “crypto winter,” SEC Chairman Gary Gensler also seems to have issued his own opinions on crypto classification, which have not yet been made official.
The latest from last June, speaks of cryptocurrencies as highly speculative assets due to both their performance and the data accumulated by the CFTC and SEC.
Specifically, Gensler would argue that while Bitcoin is a commodity, other crypto assets such as Ethereum and Ripple have the attributes of a security, so the public hopes for returns from their investments.
John Deaton vs. Gary Gensler: the case of Ethereum becoming PoS
The founder of CryptoLaw, reportedly began his comments on Twitter, specifically alerting us to what Gensler and the SEC might do after Ethereum becomes Proof-of-Stake (PoS).
IS #ETH SAFE FROM GENSLER?
“Ethereum’s transition to PoS in September is a dangerous bet on decentralisation that could attract the eyes of regulators.” See 👇
Can we truly rule out Gensler suing #ETH after the move to PoS? https://t.co/40O5R0ndbe
— John E Deaton (@JohnEDeaton1) September 3, 2022
“IS #ETH SAFE FROM GENSLER?
“Ethereum’s transition to PoS in September is a dangerous bet on decentralisation that could attract the eyes of regulators.
Can we truly rule out Gensler suing #ETH after the move to PoS?”
In the meantime, the long-awaited Ethereum Merge is scheduled to take place on 15 September, while as early as tomorrow software clients operating with Ethereum will have to be updated as the Bellatrix hard fork will take place.