Don't expect Coin Center to stick up for XRP in the face of the SEC

Published at: Dec. 22, 2020

In its coming fight against the Securities and Exchange Commission, Ripple won't see support from some of the mainstays of the crypto lobby. Jerry Brito, the executive director of Coin Center, made it clear on Tuesday that his organization won’t put up any resistance to the notion that XRP is a security.

In response to a question about Coin Center's work to keep XRP from the SEC's purview, Brito posted two articles where Coin Center argues why Bitcoin and Ethereum aren’t securities before pointing to the absence of such a post for Ripple:

Here is a post where we argue Bitcoin is not a security:https://t.co/RA3Ka4Mu6mHere is a post where we argue Ethereum is not a security:https://t.co/GTxWe4ppjQYou won't find a similar post for Ripple. We have nothing to say about it.

— Jerry Brito (@jerrybrito) December 22, 2020

Coin Center is a nonprofit advocacy and research group supporting the development of crypto-friendly public policy. The organization began its Bitcoin-related advocacy work in 2014.

Ripple has been battling the SEC for years over whether XRP is a security that should fall under the purview of the federal securities regulator. Although Ripple has tried to distinguish itself from XRP, it holds more than half of the total token supply. Many argue that XRP meets the Howey Test, which considers securities to be any type of investment where profits depend on the work of a third-party.

The SEC’s pending lawsuit against Ripple was announced by CEO Brad Garlinghouse, who took to Twitter late Monday to gauge public opinion.

Today, the SEC voted to attack crypto. Chairman Jay Clayton - in his final act - is picking winners and trying to limit US innovation in the crypto industry to BTC and ETH. (1/3) https://t.co/r9bgT9Pcuu

— Brad Garlinghouse (@bgarlinghouse) December 22, 2020

The price of XRP has been in freefall since Garlinghouse decided to make the alleged lawsuit public. The third-largest cryptocurrency by market cap plunged below $0.50, recording a double-digit percentage drop.

According to Garlinghouse, a securities designation by the SEC isn’t the end of the world for Ripple or XRP. He told the Pomp Podcast last month that “more than 90% of RippleNet customers are outside of the United States.”

Nevertheless, such a designation would require that U.S-based investors complete broker-dealer registeration with the SEC in order to hold XRP, which is a possible hindrance to adoption. 

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