Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse recently shed light on the ongoing discussion about the classification of digital assets, making a definitive statement regarding two of the most prominent cryptocurrencies: XRP and Ethereum (ETH). This perspective was brought to the forefront by a Fox Business correspondent, Eleanor Terrett.
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The Ripple CEO made the comments during a fireside talk with Michael Arrington, founder of Arrington Capital at the recent XRP Las Vegas conference.
According to the Ripple CEO, neither XRP nor Ethereum should be considered securities. This comment aligns with the long-standing argument presented by Ripple and other stakeholders in the crypto community.
Ripple’s ongoing legal battle with the SEC has put the company in the spotlight, making its CEO’s opinions particularly noteworthy.
The Ripple CEO’s remarks come at a critical time when regulatory bodies are scrutinizing the crypto market, with several discussions arising in the crypto space as regards this. In the week, reports surfaced of MicroStrategy chairman Michael Saylor speculating that the SEC may regard Ethereum, BNB, SOL, XRP and ADA as unregistered crypto asset securities.
The debate over whether crypto assets such as XRP and Ethereum (ETH) should be classified as securities has been a point of contention within the cryptocurrency community for years.
However, XRP gained legal clarity in the Ripple lawsuit in July 2023, when the judge ruled that XRP was not a security in itself. However certain XRP institutional sales were found to be unregistered securities sales.
A recent twist in the crypto security debate emerged when Ethereum software company Consensys filed a lawsuit against the SEC, revealing that the SEC believes Ethereum is an unregistered security — and has been conducting investigations on that premise for the past year. Consensys sought a judge to declare Ethereum a non-security, preempting any future SEC claims.