An unexpected crossover occurred earlier today when the U.S. businessman and the world's richest man responded to comments made by Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse regarding the U.S. Securities Commission. Garlinghouse's comments were quite harsh on the regulator and were made in response to the news that Ripple had received internal documents from former SEC chief William Hinman regarding his 2018 speech on Ethereum's status.
Alex DovbnyaMarking the event, Ripple's CEO said that the SEC cannot be trusted and that when the whole truth about the case against Ripple comes out, the public will be stunned by the shamefulness of the actions of the commission. Elon Musk replied to this statement with the short phrase "No Way," as if with fake surprise, as if the billionaire himself had also long been convinced of what Garlinghouse had said.
No way
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) October 21, 2022Advertisement
Why does Hinman's speech and its background matter?
Former SEC chief William Hinman once concluded in official correspondence between the SEC and a third party that ETH was not a security but a cryptocurrency, as the token had reached a high degree of decentralization. At the time of the opinion, Hinman's law firm received $1.6 million from the Enterprise Ethereum Alliance.
The SEC argued at the time that this was a personal view, not an official one. Nevertheless, if the existence of the official correspondence is established and Ripple's statements are backed up, it will mean that Hinman lied to the court.
According to pro-XRP activists, a lawsuit filed against Ripple helped Ethereum push XRP out of second place in the global cryptocurrency rankings.
Godfrey Benjamin
Denys Serhiichuk
Vladislav Sopov
Dan Burgin