XRP Lawsuit: Deaton Reveals How Industry Leaders, SEC and Competitors United Against Ripple

Attorney and XRP supporter John Deaton recently shared that it’s hard to truly measure the damage the SEC’s lawsuit against Ripple and XRP has caused to Ripple’s business. Back in 2012, when Ripple’s founders created XRP, stablecoins didn’t exist, and the global payments market was wide open for innovation.

At the time, Ripple was deciding whether to focus on smart contracts or payments. In the end, Ripple chose to focus on cross-border payments, which he thinks made sense given the size of the market and the lack of stablecoins back then.

In 2019, Coinbase listed XRP and promoted it as a way to send money internationally fast and cheaply. Later that year, MoneyGram started using XRP for transfers. But just 18 months later, the SEC filed a lawsuit, claiming that all XRP—regardless of how it was purchased—was an unregistered security.

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After the lawsuit, Coinbase delisted XRP, and MoneyGram switched to using XLM instead. But Deaton asks, is there really a legal difference between using XRP or XLM for payments? However, XLM’s creator, Jed McCaleb, is also a co-founder of Ripple. Deaton argues that the SEC’s lawsuit is way too broad. He also points out that many of the people who pushed for the case against Ripple later worked for Ripple’s competitors.

“But when you look at the circumstances surrounding how this case was filed, including the massive conflicts of interests, and the fact that people behind the lawsuit went on to help or work for competitors of Ripple/XRP, you don’t have to be a fan to call it out,”

He concluded.

Ripple Vs SEC Saga Continues

The legal fight between Ripple and the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has greatly impacted XRP since the lawsuit began in December 2020. A key moment came on July 13, 2023, when Judge Analisa Torres ruled that XRP is not a security, which was an important regulatory decision. However, the SEC appealed on October 17, challenging parts of the ruling. The SEC is required to submit its opening brief by January 15, 2025, keeping the case in the public eye.