Charles Hoskinson: Ripple’s Conspiracy Theories About SEC Won’t Help Its Cause

Hoskinson called Ripple’s SEC-theories pointless and potentially detrimental.
SEC v Ripple case is inching closer to its end

Charles Hoskinson is the CEO of Input Output Group which is based in Hong Kong. He is also the founder of Cardano, a proof-of-stake cryptocurrency.

His tweets have riled up members from the ‘crypto community’ in the past. Recently, he got into an argument, on Twitter, with Ethereum core developers over Ethereum’s delayed Hard fork event (Merge).

The Twitter discussion

In a Twitter discussion, the Ethereum co-founder tweeted his thoughts on the SEC v Ripple case. His tweets were in response to tweets from pro Ripple attorney John Deaton; and they did not go well with XRP supporters, to say the least.

Hoskinson tweeted that making corruption allegations against the SEC would backfire – corruption allegations would hurt Ripple’s chances of achieving a favorable outcome from the ongoing case. He wrote that such allegations would have no impact on the court’s decision on the case and that it should be treated as a ‘separate matter.’

XRP fans on Twitter were not pleased with the Cardano co-founder’s opinions. Some accused him of being hand-in-glove with the Ethereum foundation. Ethereum supporters, and even its core developers are vocal about their poor opinions regarding certain altcoins.

Notably, XRP co-founder Chris Larsen appreciated Hoskinson’s contributions to the cryptocurrency industry.

Latest in the SEC v Ripple case

On September 29, the court ordered all correspondence by former SEC official William Hinman related to a speech he made regarding Ethereum. Hinman, who was the Corporation Finance Division Director at the SEC, declared in his speech that Ethereum was not a security because it was “sufficiently decentralized.”

It is not certain whether disclosing Hinman’s past correspondence will have significant bearing on the case for two reasons. One, the SEC argued that the contents of the speech and associated correspondence are protected by attorney-client privilege. Two, the speech represents an ex-employee’s personal views, and not the organization’s.

Earlier in September, both parties had requested a summary judgment in the case. A summary judgment is essentially a court verdict without a full verdict.

The case seems to be coming closer to an end. While the outcome cannot be predicted with confidence, it’s clear that the outcome will have an overarching impact over the crypto industry. Crypto’s status as a security may be established unambiguously with the case outcome.

A long drawn battle

In December 2020, the Securities and Exchange Commission or SEC filed a lawsuit against Ripple and two of its executives – Chris Larsen and Brad Garlinghouse – over the sale of unregistered securities.

Ripple is the first firm to fight an SEC lawsuit. Its case is compelling, given that the financial watchdog has not touched Bitcoin and Ethereum. And if Hinman’s speech is to go by, the organization has clearly recognized Bitcoin and Ethereum as non-securities.

In August, a legislation introduced by Senators Debbie Debbie Stabenow, (Democrat-Michigan), and John Boozman, (Republican-Arkansas) explicitly labeled Bitcoin and Ethereum as commodities.

The case was filed just before present chairman Gary Gensler took over the reins of the SEC. Chair Gensler is known for having a firm hand. Amid the spate of lawsuits against companies and individuals the watchdog has been criticized for regulating by “enforcement.”

Andrew is a blockchain developer who developed his interest in cryptocurrencies while his post-graduation. He is a keen observer of details and shares his passion for writing along with being a developer. His backend knowledge about blockchain helps him give a unique perspective to his writing