@GaryGensler has the @Ripple#XRP case pending in the 2nd Circuit in SDNY, the @LBRYcom#LBC case in the 1st Circuit in N.H., and the @dragonchain#DRGN case in the 9th Circuit in Wa. He is now also suing individuals for selling 9 tokens as unregistered securities in Wahi case.
In the Ripple case the SEC has declared all #XRP, including #XRP traded in the secondary market independent of Ripple, securities. The token itself is a security per se.
In the LBRY case the SEC argued utility is irrelevant and even if 90% of the token holders acquired #LBC for non-investment use, if one person expected a profit all LBC are securities.
In @dragonchain, the #DRGN token is an ERC20
Token and is governed by the Ethereum Network. Thus, the sufficient decentralization argument may not be supported by Gensler moving forward.
Gensler’s power grab has been a well thought out plan. This was a year ago. 👇
A year ago I was hesitant and careful to not accuse Hinman of actually breaking the law. Like @CGasparino and @EleanorTerrett, I gave him the benefit of the doubt, plus you shouldn’t impugn someone’s reputation unless you have clear irrefutable proof he/she violated the law. 👇
But see yourself👇Hinman was warned by SEC Ethics that he was BARRED by the financial criminal conflict statute from engaging in ANY contact w/his partners at Simpson Thacher. What everyone needs to understand is that this was a STRICT ABSOLUTE PROHIBITION crypto-law.us/wp-content/upl…
What this meant was ABSOLUTELY NO CONTACT. No emails, phone calls, lunches or meetings where his law firm would be present.
The law makes it a crime for Hinman to have ANY contact whatsoever b/c if he creates “even an appearance of impropriety” it is a violation of the law.
When I filed the motion to intervene in @SECGov 🆚 @Ripple on behalf of #XRPHolders, I used @Spend_The_Bits as a great example of why the Judge 👩⚖️ must allow us to be heard in the case.
@Jay_SpendDBits WITHOUT any help or 💰 from Ripple developed a payment app utilizing #XRPL.
#SpendTheBits will also be referenced in our Amicus Brief. According to Jay Kambo, @bgarlinghouse@chrislarsensf and @JoelKatz were completely unaware of who he was or of his idea to develop a payment app that allows you to spend your #Bitcoin JUST AS Satoshi Nakamoto envisioned.
That’s the beauty of the underlying technology. The #XRPLedger is an open permission-less distributed ledger technology - emphasis on “open and permission-less.”
Jay Kambo didn’t ask for permission - he just started building.
On January 1, 2021 - 9 days after the @SECGov sued @Ripple claiming ALL #XRP are securities including XRP sold independent of Ripple, I sued the SEC and argued the following:
“The issue before the Court and the public is that if the SEC actually attempts to incorporate [SEC’s]
public definitions and argue that today’s XRP is a security, it is a slippery slope that the SEC is going down. If the SEC does not amend its Complaint to only include alleging that specific XRP distributions, made by Ripple or its Executives, in the early days of Ripple and XRP,
then the entire Digital Asset Industry is on notice that the SEC could be coming for your Crypto next. This regulation by enforcement approach applied to Crypto, almost a decade later, must not be allowed by the Courts.”
-Deaton 🆚 @SECGov, Writ of Mandamus, January 1, 2021.
Many people will not pay your comment much attention. But for those of us who’ve been exhaustingly fighting tribalism and believe in a multi-chain world of interoperability, your comments are truly demoralizing.
If you would’ve said Ripple lost its right to protection, I wouldn’t comment, whether I agree w/it or not. Ripple can defend itself. But even quite possibly Ripple’s biggest critic, @twobitidiot, has recognized the SEC’s overreach and has stated he hopes Ripple defeats the SEC.
A SYNOPSIS OF THE @SECGov 🆚 @LBRYcom SUMMARY JUDGMENT TRANSCRIPT.
As I said during @CryptoLawUS’s livestream after watching the SEC 🆚 LBRY Summary Judgment argument below is my single biggest criticism and observation along with direct quotes from the hearing.
The Judge 👨⚖️ asked the SEC’s lawyer:
“Do you concede that there is what I think LBRY is calling a consumptive use for #LBC?”
SEC Lawyer:
“We do, your honor. Not for the entire time of the offering.”
The COURT:
“When does something that has a consumptive use and that LBRY would say is a commodity shade into a security?”
SEC Lawyer:
“Well, your Honor, I first would say you don’t start with the presumption that something is a commodity. You apply the Howey test first.”
For over a year, I wouldn’t accuse Hinman of violating the law. I only maintained that he may have and that the appearance of impropriety deserved an investigation. Since then however we’ve learned that @EMPOWR_us caught the @SECGov in a lie, trying to cover up the issue.
The SEC claimed there were no emails or documents responsive to @EMPOWR_us’s FOIA Request.
Empower sued the SEC in federal court and discovered that there are in fact emails related to a conflict and the SEC was forced to turn some of those emails over.