SEC v. Ripple got XRP delisted but Jed McCaleb sold $2b in 2021: double standard?
Ripple Labs has also sold the digital asset throughout the year as well, albeit a lower figure: $800 million worth of XRP.
The Securities and Exchange Commission has found itself under intense pressure ever since filing the lawsuit against Ripple Labs in December 2020.
Although it’s the agency’s job to oversee parts of the financial ecosystem, the tables have turned and now it is the regulator who is under greater scrutiny, namely for suspicions of double standards.
John Deaton, attorney for the more than 60,000 XRP Holders who have been granted Amicus Curiae status in the XRP lawsuit, has exposed a fact that might be construed as a double standard from the SEC.
The financial watchdog had XRP delisted from cryptocurrency exchanges in the United States since December 2020, a move that angered many market participants and industry executives, and understandably so as no exchange wants to upset a regulator that is so easily triggered into enforcement actions in the crypto space.
However, Jed McCaleb, the former co-founder and CTO of Ripple, has been selling XRP all along since the lawsuit was filed. This fact has been revealed every so often by the media and the XRP community to no avail. The SEC has remained silent and doesn’t seem to be bothered by what it has claimed to be unregistered securities sales.
Jed McCaleb has sold $2,147 billion worth of XRP in 2021 so far, which is 80% of all his XRP sales since 2016. But he is not alone in this.
Ripple Labs has also sold the digital asset throughout the year as well, albeit a lower figure: $800 million worth of XRP.
“The SEC claims all XRP – even XRP traded in the secondary market – are securities. It claims Brad Garlinghouse and Chris Larsen enriched themselves and seeks $1.3B. Yet, Ripple co-founder Jed McCaleb has sold more than $2B since the lawsuit was filed”, John Deaton tweeted.
“XRP Holders acquired XRP because they believed in the technology not because of the CEO or founder. Their property has been frozen pending the outcome of the case. If the SEC truly believed what it’s alleged, why are
Ripple and its co-founder allowed to continue to sell?”
“If XRP traded in the secondary market is an investment contract with Ripple as the SEC claims, why didn’t it seek a preliminary injunction to stop Ripple from continuing to sell? Why didn’t it issue a cease and desist to others who weren’t sued?”
Investors in the United States have been calling for the relisting of XRP and the movement is getting louder. The SEC, however, doesn’t seem to budge on the matter nor the digital asset exchanges are willing to risk having the SEC knocking on their door over adding XRP to their offering.
