Ripple Attempts To Drag Ethereum Into Its Problems Ahead Of Court Date

It’s been no secret for a while now that Ripple have gotten themselves into hot water ahead of their court date with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

With a preliminary court date set in a little over 3 weeks – the 22^nd of February to be precise – times have not been good for Ripple Labs, with multiple exchanges delisting XRP, MoneyGram issuing statements that seem to have been issued with the intention of distancing themselves from the fallout, and the price of XRP plummeting as a result.

FOIA Request For Ethereum

In RippleLabs official response to the SEC, they have reiterated the fact that XRP is not a security and thus is not within the SEC’s jurisdiction.

The team also appear to have begun pointing fingers at other high-profile cryptocurrencies, inquiring what sets them apart from Ripple.

“The SEC has clearly picked two winners and ignored a growing and robust industry that is much larger than Bitcoin and Ether. In addition to discovery we will seek directly in the lawsuit, we filed a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request for more information about how the SEC determined the status of Ether as a non-security.”

Ripple have since sent a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request to the SEC, asking for all information regarding Ethereum’s status. The SEC has stated in the past that Ethereum is sufficiently decentralized – which prevents it from being a security, and classifies it as a commodity instead. This places Ethereum under the jurisdiction of the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission.

The FOIA request also seems to use the constant fear of US institutions regarding Chinese control of digital and other assets, hinting that China-based Bitcoin and Ethereum mining pools could mean that Ethereum is as controlled by one party as XRP is by Ripple.