A Ripple supporter and founder of Cryptolaw.US, John Deaton says he believes that the ongoing court case between Ripple and the SEC is “free campaign” for the company. Deaton says the recent increase in the number of XRP wallets can be attributed to the ongoing case which seems to have attracted investors to XRP.
Ripple has been in court since December 2020 over allegations by the SEC that XRP is a security and not a cryptocurrency. Ripple and its top executives were charged for raising millions of dollars in an ICO with an unregistered security (XRP).
Although the case caused some negative sentiments around XRP at the time, causing some crypto exchanges like Coinbase to delist the cryptocurrency from their platforms, XRP has since recovered and currently seems accepted. The number of XRP wallets has seen a recent surge which Deaton says is as a result of the court case.
In a tweet, Deaton wrote that he was sure a lot of XRP buyers wouldn’t have known about the cryptocurrency if not for the Ripple vs SEC case.
“I have zero doubt that many more #XRPHolders first became aware and learned about @Ripple and @bgarlinghouse because of the SEC and the lawsuit than any before. There are more than 4M XRP addresses. There are people in this world who own XRP today and still don’t know about @Ripple,” he wrote.”
Ripple Enjoying Free Publicity
The SEC claims that XRP is a security token issued by Ripple. However Deaton in defense of XRP says there are many XRP holders who didn’t know about Ripple prior to the court case. Speaking about the 4 million XRP addresses, he said most of them are from overseas, meaning that many XRP users didn’t know about the SEC or Ripple in the US.
“I was talking to a lawyer who said: “But John, some of these affidavits are from people who bought XRP in January or February of 2021 – after the lawsuit. Do you really think this is believable?” My response was “look at the addresses: Japan, Mexico, Netherlands, Australia. Not everyone gives a shit or even pays attention to what is going on with the SEC in the U.S,” Deaton wrote.
Indeed, Ripple has enjoyed some publicity as a result of the case. The company has even leveraged it to achieve some great things for the crypto and blockchain space. It has been partnering with universities and colleges around the world to enhance knowledge of blockchain and cryptocurrencies among other projects despite the ongoing case.
Is the SEC Losing?
The SEC has been up and down cracking down on crypto exchanges in the US. Most recently, Binance and Coinbase were the victims of its anti-crypto enforcements. These efforts are making the public to take sides with the crypto industry instead, even though the agency claims to be protecting investors.
The Ripple case is another big potential boost for the crypto industry. Some experts have said that a win in the case will be victory for the entire industry, and this has never been more true. Binance and Coinbase winning will be bigger for the industry.
At the time of writing, XRP is the sixth largest cryptocurrency by market cap and one of the best performing among the top ten cryptocurrencies on Coin Market Cap.
