- Ex-SEC lawyer John Berry, highlights a reason why XRP is not good for the Howey Test.
- He discussed XRP in a recent webcast clip which was uploaded to YouTube.
The U.S. Securities Exchange and Commision (SEC) has a fundamental claim against Ripple that “XRP is a security.” Also, the financial watchdogs stay on this claim even though there are many arguments against this. It must be noted that the case between Ripple and the SEC is the longest running legal case in the crypto world.
John Berry’s Research Related to XRP
Recently, a video was released which opposed the SEC’s claim. This video is a video of John Berry, who is an ex-SEC lawyer. In a Securities Docket webcast clip which was uploaded on YouTube, he talked about XRP. He said XRP is same as BTC and ETH. He complies with the differences between these three coins, but also emphasises its mismatch for Howey Test.
In the video Berry answered experienced litigator Sean Prosser’s question. In which Prosser asked if Ripple could have any defences should the SEC apply the Howey Test. While answering his question, Berry replied, “The SEC, I think, is getting more aggressive.” Also, the Ripple case falls into the category of aggressive case.
On the other hand, Berry points out that the SEC never filed any case against Ether, even though it has the same functionality as XRP. He further added, “Ripple, they [the SEC] would say, marketed its XRP tokens as an investment.” He also suggests that the SEC should mention the difference between the decentralisation of ETH and BTC.
Berry’s claim opposes the SEC’s fundamental claim. He said this case would become more challenging as the SEC claimed XRP or BTC is not an investment but similar to cash. However, the claim of Berry shows similarity with William Hinman’s 2018 speech. As Hinman also said, BTC and ETH can’t be sorted as securities.
Source: https://www.thecoinrepublic.com/2022/08/13/__trashed-16/