🚀Crypto enthusiasts, listen up! A little-discussed memo from the SEC back in 2013 might suggest that the agency faced internal struggles in concluding whether XRP was a security. This could mean that Ripple, the company behind XRP, wasn't legally reckless in issuing the token years prior, as the SEC has often alleged. 🤔
According to crypto lawyer John Deaton, the "Howey memo" was written by SEC enforcement lawyers and received by SEC chair Jay Clayton and Commissioner William Hinman on June 13, 2018. The memo was not disclosed, but Deaton believes that if it had concluded that XRP was a security, it would have been mentioned by Clayton at a meeting with Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse and CTO David Schwartz. 📝
Deaton also points out that there was no accompanying enforcement action shortly after the memo was published, further demonstrating that the SEC had likely reached no conclusion at the time. So, if the SEC struggled to conclude XRP was a security in 2018, how could Ripple's executives be reckless in not knowing XRP was being sold as a security in 2013-2015? 🧐
The legal battle continues, but this new revelation might just tip the scales in Ripple's favor! Stay tuned for more updates on this exciting crypto saga! 🎉