Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse has been expressing his thoughts on the state of the cryptocurrency market and regulations, and a grudge seems to have emerged over the financial regulator's approach to Ethereum.
Speaking at the DC Fintech Week virtual conference on October 21, the head of Ripple stated that Ethereum had been granted a regulatory green light allowing it to outperform his company's XRP token.
The US Securities and Exchange Commission has been going after Ripple for claims that XRP is an unregistered security. In January, Ripple filed a Freedom of Information Act request with the SEC. demanding to know why he did not consider ETH a security. Six months later, in July, a district judge allowed the company depose a former SEC official who stated in 2018 that ETH was not a security.
Garlinghouse clearly feels that his company has tried hard and Ethereum's subsequent success is due, at least in part, to more favorable treatment from the SEC. He set that is affecting the market, adding:
โIn recent years, XRP was the second most valuable digital asset. As it became clear that the SEC had given ETH a hall pass, ETH has obviously exploded and that clarity has helped. "
XRP was the second largest crypto asset by market capitalization at the end December, 2017. It has currently slipped to seventh place, while Ethereum has taken second place since then.
Garlinghouse also stated that the SEC has been taking an aggressive stance against cryptocurrencies with recent actions against his own company. and Coinbase. Commenting on Ripple's battle with the financial regulator, he said that the SEC claims to be protecting consumers, but:
"There are almost 50,000 Americans who have XRP who are trying to sue the SEC for 'protecting' them."
Earlier this month, a US district judge ruled that people who own the company's XRP token could not participate as defendants on the demand.
Related: XRP buyers back Ripple, arguing that it is not a security
The SEC's request to extend the time frame to complete the discovery in its ongoing lawsuit with Ripple Labs and its executives has been granted and postponed until January 14, 2022.
Ripple claims that any further delay in resolving this case "will cause serious harm to the interests of the defendants and XRP holders."
The court acknowledged this, but stated that "the additional time requested by the SEC will not affect the timeline for resolving the case."
