For years, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC[1]) and the crypto-community have been at odds over the issue of “regulatory clarity.” To many, the ongoing SEC v. Ripple[2] Labs lawsuit has exposed the incoherence of the SEC’s concept of “clarity.” Meanwhile, Coinbase,[3] one of the world’s largest crypto-exchanges, might also suffer a similar fate[4] after a Wells Notice was served by the agency.
Now, while the SEC has hammered Coinbase and Ripple, it has given Ethereum a pass, a free pass. So, here’s the question – Why was Ethereum[5] blessed while Ripple was sued? Why does Coinbase get a Wells notice while crypto-lenders like Aave, built on the Ethereum platform, get a pass?
In a series of tweets[6], Fox Business’s Charles Gasparino[7] highlighted a key reason why this was so. According to the journalist, sources within the SEC believe that the built-out infrastructure of the blockchain is the defining factor.
“…the logic of the agency’s case is that the company’s (Ripple) infrastructure is STILL being built out so XRP — the token which was used to finance the thing — is considered a security.”
On the contrary, the belief is that Ethereum’s infrastructure is
“…totally built-out and has been for years thus it’s clearly a commodity. “
This is the reason why the SEC sees XRP as “an unregistered security,” he added. That wasn’t all, however, with Gasparino going on to tweet,
“Ether is not a security”
Previously, back in June 2018, William Hinman,[8] SEC’s former Director of Corporation Finance, delivered a s[9]peech[10] declaring that Ether is not a security.
Moreover, Hinman revealed that he had actually warned Ripple about XRP and
