Ripple Expands Footprint in Academic Sector.

Carnegie Mellon University (CMU) has announced that popular cryptocurrency and fintech company Ripple has become a founding sponsor of its Secure Blockchain Initiative.

Excited to continue working with Carnegie Mellon University while furthering UBRI's mission to support research and study in #blockchain and #cryptocurrencies. https://t.co/S88IkHRCel

— Ripple (@Ripple) April 8, 2022

In a recent press release, the university noted that the Secure Blockchain Initiative is an interdisciplinary research program established to rethink and reshape blockchain across various enterprise systems, which will provide solutions to major challenges inherent in the technology. 

Ripple’s Mission in the Academic Sector

Lauren Weymouth, Director of University Partnerships at Ripple, said the famous fintech company is anticipating features in the “forward-thinking” program of CMU, which has the prospects of making a major impact in the blockchain sector. 

“As we support Carnegie Mellon faculty and students, Ripple looks forward to working alongside global experts in tackling these open research challenges,” Weymouth added. 

Ripple’s Director of University Partnerships noted that the organization’s mission is to “support research and study in blockchain and cryptocurrencies at universities worldwide. It wouldn’t be possible without partners such as CMU.”  

Furthermore, Weymouth noted that Ripple is committed to ensuring that institutions, businesses, and clients can easily access global financial systems without any restrictions. Its partnership with CMU will further guarantee that goal. 

Extension of Educational Partnerships 

According to the announcement, the recent partnership extends the previous collaboration between Ripple and Carnegie Mellon University. 

Notably, CMU partnered with Ripple’s University Blockchain Research Initiative three years ago, a program designed to support technical development, academic research, and innovation in the crypto and blockchain industries. 

Following the partnership, the blockchain company has collaborated with CMU researchers on multiple blockchain-focused projects, including UBRI Connect and Ripple’s annual academic meetings. 

Commenting on the development, Nicolas Christin, professor, Institute for Software Research, said: 

“Sponsoring Blockchain@CyLab is a perfect and natural progression of a thriving partnership and collaboration between CMU and Ripple. We look forward to Ripple’s support and contributions to our ambitious new initiative.” 

Growing Partnerships Across Various Sectors 

Despite its ongoing lawsuit with the SEC, Ripple has been embarking on groundbreaking partnerships in various sectors since its inception. 

The company has invested in various crypto-related projects like non-fungible funding tokens (NFTs) developers and the academic sector. 

Brad Garlinghouse and Chris Larsen deny all charges filed by the SEC against them.

Ripple and Individual Defendants are not looking to waste any more time in the lawsuit as they try to speed up the process to bring an end to the landmark lawsuit that has continued to hurt holders of its native cryptocurrency XRP. 

Individual Defendants’ Response

In an important move today, the Individual Defendants, Chris Larsen and Brad Garlinghouse, have filed their responses to the Securities and Exchange Commission’s Amended Complaint. 

According to a response filed by Ripple’s CEO, Garlinghouse, through his counsel, all allegations set forth in the complaint filed by the SEC have been denied.

Garlinghouse refused to respond to most of the allegations leveled by the SEC, as he considered them to be false statements. 

“Defendant Bradley Garlinghouse, by and through his undersigned counsel, hereby answers and asserts defenses to Plaintiff Securities and Exchange Commission’s (“SEC’s”) First Amended Complaint (the “Complaint”).Unless expressly admitted, all allegations set forth in the Complaint are denied,” Garlinghouse responded to the charges filed against him. 

Similarly, Ripple’s Chairman Chris, who recently advocated for a change in the Bitcoin code, also requested in his response that the SEC’s Amended Complaint against him be dismissed. 

“Defendant Christian A. Larsen reserves the right to request dismissal of the Complaint on any and all grounds. Unless expressly admitted, all allegations set forth in the Complaint are denied,” Larsen noted in his response to the SEC’s charges. 

Commenting on the response, attorney Jeremy Hogan, partner at Hogan & Hogan, noted the importance of having Co-Defendants, saying: 

“A good thing about having Co-Defendants is that they can raise the same issues from slightly different perspectives. Here, Attorney Solomon addresses the same issues as Ripple but from oblique angles, and his Preliminary Statement really highlights the problems with the SEC’s case.” 

A good thing about having Co-Defendants is that they can raise the same issues from slightly different perspectives.

Here, Att'y Solomon comes at the same issues as Ripple but from oblique angles, and his Preliminary Statement really highlights the problems with the SEC's case. https://t.co/QFuhgMEEV4 pic.twitter.com/qH11lS5kpJ

— Jeremy Hogan (@attorneyjeremy1) April 9, 2022

Way Forward 

With the filing of the Individual Defendants’ response to the SEC’s amended complaint, the Securities and Exchange Commission’s position on additional discovery is due for submission on April 15, 2022. 

Similarly, the much anticipated Joint Proposed Scheduling Order is due to be submitted on or before April 2022. 

Aside from the SEC’s position on additional discovery and the Joint Proposed Scheduling Order, the Ripple community awaits decisions for the Defendant’s motion to strike the Supplemental Expert Report, motion to compel the turnover of Estabrook’s notes, SEC’s motion for Partial Reconsideration. 

Ripple v. SEC: New Email Conversation Shows William Hinman Violated SEC’s Rules.

With the SEC refusing to produce William Hinman’s emails, new documents shared by Empower Oversight show that the former SEC director violated the Securities and Exchange Commission’s rules. 

The documents, which feature messages from Hinman’s email, suggest how the former SEC director violated the agency’s rule multiple times. 

#XRPCommunity #XRP @EMPOWR_us scored some extraordinary emails regarding Bill Hinman, including one that shows that Hinman was warned that he has "a bar under the criminal financial conflict with Simpson because you have an ongoing financial interest in the firm." https://t.co/G7GnBzxbb3 pic.twitter.com/oe0i0qfhVw

— James K. Filan ????89k+ (beware of imposters) (@FilanLaw) April 8, 2022

Hinman Breaches SEC’s Rules

In some of the conversations, Hinman was specifically warned by Shira Minton, former SEC’s Ethics counsel, not to meet with Simpson Thacher & Bartlett, a New York-based international law firm, while he was still working with the SEC. 

“You have a bar under the criminal financial conflict with Simpson because you have an ongoing financial interest in the firm. meeting with them while having such a conflict is not permitted,” Excerpt of a message sent by Minton to Hinman. 

However, Hinman neglected all warnings and went ahead to have the meeting with Simpson Thacher on four different occasions, as he disclosed in another conversation he had with one of the staff using a private email address. 

“We don’t know what Hinman and Bonnie discussed in their private meetings on 11/28/17, 9/6/18, 9/18/19 or 9/17/20, or how many other times Hinman violated criminal financial conflict rules without using his official SEC email account,” Crypto Law, a U.S.-based media outlet covering legal news for the crypto industry,  noted. 

(5/5) We don't know what Hinman and Bonnie discussed in their private meetings on 11/28/17, 9/6/18, 9/18/19 or 9/17/20, or how many other times Hinman violated criminal financial conflict rules without using his official SEC email account ? pic.twitter.com/mzAsL2NzIV

— CryptoLaw (@CryptoLawUS) April 8, 2022

It is worth noting that Hinman’s email conversation is part of the documents received by Empower Oversight from the SEC earlier this year. 

Hinman’s Role in the Ripple Lawsuit

On numerous occasions, Hinman’s name has been mentioned in the lawsuit slammed by the security agency on Ripple. 

Hinman is considered an integral part of the lawsuit because of his 2018 comments on whether Ethereum is a security, which was drafted in an email. 

Many believe XRP was also included in the conversation, which could see the charges against Ripple go away. 

However, all efforts to have the SEC surrender the email have been futile as the agency argues that some of the details of Hinman’s comments are personal deliberations, which makes it protected by the Deliberative Process Privilege (DPP).

U.S.-based crypto companies continue to ignore Ripple following ongoing lawsuit.  

The United States global markets company CME Group, which is planning to launch real-time metrics and reference rates for 11 cryptocurrencies, has excluded Ripple (XRP) from the list despite the token’s popularity in the cryptosphere.  

Details of CME CF Crypto Reference Rates

The CME cryptocurrency real-time metrics for 11 cryptocurrencies will be calculated on a daily basis by CF Benchmark beginning April 25, 2022. 

Prior to the announcement to add 11 new cryptocurrencies to the CME CF reference rates, the U.S.-based company already tracks the prices of Bitcoin (BTC) and Ethereum (ETH). 

According to the Frequently Asked Question (FAQ) on CME, the cryptocurrencies that will be tracked include Bitcoin Cash (BCH), Cosmos (ATOM), Litecoin (LTC), Stellar Lumens (XLM), Chainlink (LINK), Cardano (ADA), Uniswap (UNI), Polygon (MATIC), Algorand (ALGO), Polkadot (DOT), and Solana (SOL). 

Pros of the Tracker

It is worth noting that the CME CF cryptocurrency reference rate is an important feature that fosters institutional adoption of tokens and coins under coverage. 

Starting April 25, 2022, each of the newly added cryptocurrencies will display the market price of the assets in the United States dollar at 4 PM London time daily. 

Aside from tracking each cryptocurrency’s price at the CME CF reference rate, the supported digital currencies will also have regular expert oversight. 

Reason for Ripple’s Exclusion

With these numerous benefits associated with the tool, it would be disheartening to the Ripple community to know that the XRP cryptocurrency is not included in the list. 

However, the reason is not far-fetched given that Ripple is in the middle of a lawsuit with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). 

Recall that Ripple found itself in hot waters after the SEC charged the company and two of its executives for conducting an unregistered security offering in the United States that saw it raise $1.3 billion. 

The charges prompted several U.S.-based cryptocurrency exchanges to halt XRP trading, forcing the price of the token to plummet. 

Since Ripple is still facing a lawsuit with U.S. authorities, it is expected that companies based in the United States will continue to distance themselves from the cryptocurrency to avoid being scrutinized by the SEC. 

More functions to be introduced to both XRPL and Sologenic DEX.

Sologenic Development Foundation, the team behind the Sologenic decentralized exchange based on Ripple’s XRP Ledger (XRPL), has announced that it will be upgrading its current DEX to enable the platform to have new and improved components. 

Sologenic noted in a press release today that the move will contribute immensely to the growth of the XRPL and its decentralized exchange, by unlocking its full potential to conduct new activities in the near future. 

Bridges Between XRPL & Other Networks’ Tokens

According to the announcement, Sologenic plans to add more crypto assets from other networks to the decentralized trading platform. 

Per the announcement, Sologenic has connected with Allbridge, a cross-chain bridge allowing users to swap tokens between the XRP Ledger and other blockchains, in order to integrate tokens hosted on other networks to its DEX. 

The integration, when complete, will enable Sologenic clients to conveniently swap between tokens on XRPL and other blockchains like Binance Smart Chain (BSC), Ethereum, Terra, and Polkadot, etc. 

Solving DEX Fiats On and Off Ramps

Aside from adding assets based on other networks, Sologenic noted that it plants to tackle the issue of Fiats on and off-ramps. 

The team noted that it will make provision for the ramps by embarking on multiple partnerships, which will make its ecosystem fully decentralized. 

At the moment, Sologenic said it has already partnered with BANXA and the financial institution will be in-charge of Know-Your-Customer (KYC) and customer support, thus allowing the process of purchasing crypto assets directly on the DEX using credit card. 

The upcoming update to Sologenix DEX will also introduce an IDO launchpad for new tokens to make their debut on the platform, giving developers the opportunity to raise funds for their innovative projects. 

Real-Time Price Index for Tokens on XRPL

Furthermore, Sologenic is planning to introduce an accurate market index featuring real-time metrics and pricing of tokens on the XRP Ledger. 

This will be made possible by connecting the market index directly to the SOLO decentralized exchange.