John Deaton, a well-known cryptocurrency lawyer and supporter of Ripple, has disclosed that he is in favour of the recent lawsuit brought by American cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase Global Inc against the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). Deaton is particularly happy that Coinbase followed in his footsteps and filed the second Writ of Mandamus against the commission, even though it is uncommon to launch a case against the regulator.
According to Deaton, he was the first individual to bring such a case in the nation’s history on behalf of XRP. He claims that the goal of his Writ of Mandamus was to persuade the SEC to narrow the scope of their allegations against Ripple in order to concentrate only on the XRP currency offered by the blockchain payments company.
The SEC had claimed that XRP was offered for sale as a security and had charged even secondary exchanges of the virtual currency. Deaton wasn’t too concerned with the specifics of his own complaint, but he found it amusing that more businesses in the sector are challenging the SEC and calling for stronger regulatory oversight.
Deaton drew comparisons to the Coinbase litigation and argued that the SEC could not continue to rely on a single case to support its assertions regarding the Howey Test, which was established more than seven decades ago.
Volatile regulatory climate in U.S.
When it comes to cryptocurrency legislation, the United States is becoming rather divided. Notably, the SEC has been taking tougher measures against organisations in the area on the basis that the majority of the coins or services they host are securities offers.
The cryptocurrency community, as well as MPs, have criticised the commission and demanded that there be clear regulatory standards to follow. Gary Gensler, the chairman of the SEC, has argued that the community’s adherence to the securities regulations already in place is more than sufficient.
While the SEC has time to prepare for the Coinbase lawsuit, it is certain that the regulatory war in America is becoming hotter on all fronts.
