Even after more than four decades of experience navigating the commodities markets, Peter Brandt maintains that Ripple (XRP) is an unregistered security, according to Investopedia.
The veteran trader would still be able to own the Ripple-affiliated cryptocurrency despite the regulatory uncertainty surrounding the cryptocurrency. He would just have to do so “under the right circumstances.”
Brandt, a long-time Ripple critic, famously urged the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission to classify XRP as a security in less than two months before the actual lawsuit. He also accused the company of attempting to manipulate the price of the contentious cryptocurrency bitcoin.
According to the SEC, Ripple was able to generate $1.38 billion in revenue from illegal XRP sales, with the proceeds being used to fund the company’s operations.
The Securities and Exchange Commission also filed charges against CEO Brad Garlinghouse and former CEO Chris Larsen. Garlinghouse, who once said that he was on the “HODL side,” made $150 million with his XRP sales while Larsen pocketed $450 million together with his wife.
The defendants, on the other hand, contend that the SEC muddied the waters with its haphazard approach to regulating cryptocurrency. Ripple is pinning their hopes on the “fair notice” defense while pressing the agency to hand over documents about Bitcoin, Ether and XRP.
However, despite the infamous speech of its former high-ranking official William Hinman, the Securities and Exchange Commission has yet to take a position on the regulatory status of Ethereum. Because of its “completely” different structure, Brandt does not consider Ether to be a security.
Despite the fact that SEC Chair Gary Gensler stated in an interview with The New York Times that both Ether and XRP should be classified as securities.
