Ethereum Founder Causes A Stir On Twitter As He Reveals Grudge Against XRP, Ripple Community Responds

Buterin does not believe the Ethereum community should act in support or defense of XRP.

Ethereum founder Vitalik Buterin in a tweet today, expressed the belief that Ethereum supporters had no obligation to speak up in support or defense of XRP, recalling filings by Ripple in December 2020 in their legal battle with the SEC, where the firm named Ethereum as Chinese-controlled.

“XRP already lost their right to protection when they tried to throw us under the bus as ‘China-controlled’ imo,” Buterin tweeted.

XRP already lost their right to protection when they tried to throw us under the bus as “China-controlled” imo:https://t.co/t6cbMtjsEV

— vitalik.eth (@VitalikButerin) August 17, 2022

Buterin’s statements come as new Canadian crypto regulations come to light that limits the value of crypto citizens of certain regions can purchase in a year to $30,000. Notably, this new directive excluded Bitcoin, Ethereum, Bitcoin Cash, and Litecoin from the above restriction but named Solana as a restricted cryptocurrency.

Responding to protests against the new rule by Trustless founder David Hoffman, Buterin commended the known Ethereum supporter for speaking out in support of what he called other legitimate cryptocurrencies even when the issue posed no risk to Ethereum. “Glad to see Ethereum people pushing against regulations that privilege ETH over other legitimate cryptocurrencies,” Buterin said.

Glad to see Ethereum people pushing against regulations that privilege ETH over other legitimate cryptocurrencies.

(I have not dug into the details of what specifically is going on and to what extent it’s a gov thing vs a compliance decision of one business, but either way…) https://t.co/NDYPh5rqsk

— vitalik.eth (@VitalikButerin) August 17, 2022

However, Hoffman, in turn, said he would not have said anything if the restricted crypto in question was XRP, a sentiment Buterin seemed to endorse with his now controversial statement.

The XRP Community Responds

Notably, Buterin’s statement has been met with responses from several influential Ripple and XRP community members. For example, Ripple CTO David Schwartz asserted that Ethereum had formed the habit of endorsing government actions against other projects just because the projects disagreed with their narrative. Furthermore, he noted that the basis of Ripple’s argument at the time was that most Bitcoin and Ethereum miners were resident in China and, subject to Chinese policy controls, going further to compare miners to company shareholders.

“The goverment should punish projects that disagree with our narrative” seems pretty on brand for ETH.

— ????? ???????? (@JoelKatz) August 18, 2022

On the other hand, Ripple Attorney Jeremy Hogan quoting Buterin’s tweet, compared the Ethereum founder’s statements to that of a mafia don, highlighting Buterin’s use of the word protection.

Am I getting old or is Vitalik too young to be a Mafia Don? https://t.co/KoPjcBKbAK

— Jeremy Hogan (@attorneyjeremy1) August 18, 2022

Meanwhile, Attorney John Deaton, who represents XRP holders in an amicus curiae status in Ripple’s case with the SEC, noted that Buterin’s statements are insensitive to XRP holders. According to Deaton, several XRP holders without affiliation to Ripple did not know the firm but lost their savings due to the “SEC’s overreach.”

I’ve brought up things like Vitalik getting the exchanges to halt trading but always said he had good intentions. Vitalik should I send you emails of people financially devastated by SEC’s overreach? People who’ve never heard of Ripple have had their XRP and life savings frozen. https://t.co/AowoxZ9vx3

— John E Deaton (212K Followers Beware Imposters) (@JohnEDeaton1) August 18, 2022

Ripple’s Legal Battle With The SEC

Ripple has been locked in a legal battle with the US SEC since December 2020, as the SEC accuses Ripple of raising funds by selling an unregistered security, XRP.

Notably, the firm has seen significant wins in the case, with many expecting a victory for Ripple. In addition, while it has received significant support from the crypto community, there appears to be no love lost between the firm and the Ethereum community.