[XRP lawyer slams former SEC chairman: new developments in XRP litigation]
Crypto industry leader and Ripple XRP supporter John E. Deaton recently commented on former U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Chairman Jay Clayton’s stance on XRP program sales rulings. Deaton questioned Clayton’s views on secondary market trading of XRP, noting that he “consistently distorts the facts.”
A number of important events have occurred over the past few months in the ongoing SEC vs. Ripple controversy. Among them, Ripple's iconic victory in the confrontation with the SEC is particularly critical. Judge Analisa Torres ruled that programmatic sales of XRP in the secondary market did not qualify as securities sales. However, Clayton disputed the ruling, claiming: “I think the judge identified the issue of securities transactions at the initial issuance stage. In the Ripple case, I think the SEC failed to prove that the secondary market transactions were securities transactions. There are other facts in the case. Like, SEC wins. How this plays out remains to be seen."
While Clayton sought to draw parallels between the case and other similar cases and pointed to issues with secondary market transactions, Deaton countered that in the Terraform and LBRY lawsuits, the court decision was not based on the concept of secondary transactions. He said the cases are not comparable, noting: "You cannot compare a summary judgment where all the evidence has been presented with a motion to dismiss based solely on the allegations in the complaint where no evidence has been presented."
