Crypto lawyer and Pro XRP attorney John Deaton asks SEC chairman Gary Gensler to stop protecting the American public in light of regulatory actions against crypto firms.
Crypto enthusiasts from the United States no longer want the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to protect them.
In a tweet on Monday, the famous crypto lawyer John Deaton told the SEC chairman, Gary Gensler, that, on behalf of the American public, “we ask you to please stop protecting us.”
Deaton commented while the SEC chairman thanked other agency staff for their hard work furthering the SEC’s mission.
On behalf of the American public we ask you to please stop protecting us.
— John E Deaton (@JohnEDeaton1) May 8, 2023
Deaton’s comment came in light of the numerous hurting regulatory actions undertaken by the SEC in recent months against many crypto firms such as the Ripple (XRP) blockchain, Coinbase crypto exchange, and Paxos, the issuer of BUSD stablecoin and Bittrex that has filed for chapter 11 bankruptcy today.
In December 2020, the U.S. regulator filed a lawsuit against Ripple Labs, Inc., alleging that the company had conducted an unregistered security offering by selling XRP, the native crypto Ripple uses in its payment network.
The SEC argued that XRP is a security because it meets the definition of an investment contract under the Howey Test, a legal standard used to determine whether a financial instrument is a security.
On the other hand, Deaton, alongside Ripple, has consistently contended that XRP is a digital currency, a software code, and not a security.
Interestingly, the lawsuit between SEC and Ripple is ongoing nearly three years after, with numerous court filings.
Recently, blockchain lawyer Deaton took to Twitter to argue that there is no legal precedent for determining that any investment contract case in the past 76 years has considered the underlying asset security.
I’ve stated two things (including in my amicus brief):
1) there hasn’t been an investment contract case in 76 years that held the underlying asset itself to be a security; https://t.co/4SZFSnvIVy
— John E Deaton (@JohnEDeaton1) May 7, 2023
Deaton came to this conclusion after extensive research and considering the findings of experts like New York-based lawyer Lewis Cohen, who recently authored a book titled “The Ineluctable Modality of Security Law: Why Fungible Crypto Assets Are Not Securities.”
Disclaimer: This content is informational and should not be considered financial advice. The views expressed in this article may include the author's personal opinions and do not reflect The Crypto Basic’s opinion. Readers are encouraged to do thorough research before making any investment decisions. The Crypto Basic is not responsible for any financial losses.
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