{"id":380158,"date":"2021-12-12T05:11:22","date_gmt":"2021-12-12T02:11:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/en.buradabiliyorum.com\/sec-case-against-ripple-labs-sale-a-bit-of-a-double-standard\/"},"modified":"2021-12-12T05:11:22","modified_gmt":"2021-12-12T02:11:22","slug":"sec-case-against-ripple-labs-sale-a-bit-of-a-double-standard","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/sec-case-against-ripple-labs-sale-a-bit-of-a-double-standard\/","title":{"rendered":"#SEC case against Ripple Labs sale a \u2018Bit\u2019 of a double standard"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"ez-toc-container\" class=\"ez-toc-v2_0_84 counter-hierarchy ez-toc-counter ez-toc-custom ez-toc-container-direction\">\n<p class=\"ez-toc-title\" style=\"cursor:inherit\">Table of Contents<\/p>\n<label for=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-item-6a22ecff19334\" class=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-label\"><span class=\"\"><span class=\"eztoc-hide\" style=\"display:none;\">Toggle<\/span><span class=\"ez-toc-icon-toggle-span\"><svg style=\"fill: #dd3333;color:#dd3333\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" class=\"list-377408\" width=\"20px\" height=\"20px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" fill=\"none\"><path d=\"M6 6H4v2h2V6zm14 0H8v2h12V6zM4 11h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2zM4 16h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2z\" fill=\"currentColor\"><\/path><\/svg><svg style=\"fill: #dd3333;color:#dd3333\" class=\"arrow-unsorted-368013\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" width=\"10px\" height=\"10px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" version=\"1.2\" baseProfile=\"tiny\"><path d=\"M18.2 9.3l-6.2-6.3-6.2 6.3c-.2.2-.3.4-.3.7s.1.5.3.7c.2.2.4.3.7.3h11c.3 0 .5-.1.7-.3.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7zM5.8 14.7l6.2 6.3 6.2-6.3c.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7c-.2-.2-.4-.3-.7-.3h-11c-.3 0-.5.1-.7.3-.2.2-.3.5-.3.7s.1.5.3.7z\"\/><\/svg><\/span><\/span><\/label><input type=\"checkbox\"  id=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-item-6a22ecff19334\" checked aria-label=\"Toggle\" \/><nav><ul class='ez-toc-list ez-toc-list-level-1 ' ><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-1\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/sec-case-against-ripple-labs-sale-a-bit-of-a-double-standard\/#Big_Media_vs_Gigi\" >Big Media vs. Gigi\u00a0<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/nav><\/div>\n<p>&#8220;<strong>#SEC case against Ripple Labs sale a \u2018Bit\u2019 of a double standard<\/strong>&#8221;<\/p>\n<div>\n<aside class=\"single__inline-module alignleft\">\n<div class=\"inline-module inline-module--columnist inline-module--author\">\n<div class=\"inline-module--author__img\">\n            <img decoding=\"async\" width=\"76\" height=\"69\" src=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2013\/08\/Gasparino_Charles_headshot.png?w=76&amp;h=69&amp;crop=1\" class=\"attachment-nyp_columnist size-nyp_columnist\" alt=\"Charles Gasparino\" loading=\"lazy\" srcset=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2013\/08\/Gasparino_Charles_headshot.png?w=152 152w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2013\/08\/Gasparino_Charles_headshot.png?w=114 114w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2013\/08\/Gasparino_Charles_headshot.png?w=76 76w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2013\/08\/Gasparino_Charles_headshot.png?w=38 38w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2013\/08\/Gasparino_Charles_headshot.png 706w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 76px) 100vw, 76px\"\/>      <\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/aside>\n<p>During last week\u2019s snoozer of a congressional hearing on the $2.5 trillion crypto-blockchain business, we got just a small glimpse into just how little the government knows about a <a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/technology\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"4\" title=\"Technology\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">technology<\/a> that could transform the way we do business.<\/p>\n<p>A more complete picture of this utter fecklessness is playing out in federal court in lower Manhattan in a case titled Securities and Exchange Commission v. Ripple Labs.<\/p>\n<p>It will likely determine how much regulation there will be over the burgeoning crypto industry, and at least so far, the SEC is demonstrating why it should be nowhere near policing something reasonably described as the next Internet.<\/p>\n<p>The SEC case hinges on some allegedly bad stuff done by Ripple. The SEC says Ripple execs sold an unregistered cryptocurrency called XRP to get rich and finance the build-out of its blockchain-like platform that transacts cross-border payments. The SEC says the XRP sales were no different from a company selling a stock or bond, and were illegal because they weren\u2019t registered with the commission.<\/p>\n<p>Ripple counters that the SEC is creating a legal double standard. The XRP sales were legal because XRP is not that much different from other non-registered cryptos, industry heavyweights such as Ether and Bitcoin.<\/p>\n<p>If the creators of the first blockchain did not have to register their sales of Bitcoin, why should Ripple? Ditto for the dudes who created Ethereum.<\/p>\n<p>The SEC seemed to officially declare Bitcoin and Ethereum\u2019s Ether a compliant crypto in a 2018 speech by Bill Hinman, the former head of the SEC Corporation Finance Division. Ripple\u2019s defense hinges in part on using Hinman\u2019s words against the commission; XRP was used in the same way the Ethereum people used Ether to finance the initial build-out of their platform. So what\u2019s the beef?<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" width=\"1024\" height=\"682\" src=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2021\/12\/Cryptocurrency.jpg?quality=90&amp;strip=all&amp;w=1024\" alt=\"Representations of cryptocurrencies Bitcoin, Ethereum, DogeCoin, Ripple, Litecoin are placed on PC motherboard in this illustration taken,\" class=\"wp-image-20459604\" srcset=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2021\/12\/Cryptocurrency.jpg?quality=90&amp;strip=all&amp;w=1535 1536w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2021\/12\/Cryptocurrency.jpg?quality=90&amp;strip=all 1024w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2021\/12\/Cryptocurrency.jpg?quality=90&amp;strip=all&amp;w=512 512w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\"\/><figcaption>The Securities and Exchange Commission, just like everyone in Washington DC, has little understanding of how cryptocurrencies are changing the economy.<\/figcaption><figcaption><span class=\"credit\">REUTERS\/Dado Ruvic\/Illustration<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>This is where things get nonsensical on the part of the SEC. The commission is now arguing that whatever Hinman said, his speech meant nothing. It\u2019s simply his opinion, nothing more. In court, the SEC is telling the crypto world it really hasn\u2019t made an official ruling whether Bitcoin or Ethereum\u2019s Ether comport with securities laws.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI don\u2019t want to be overly technical but \u2026 there is no action that [the SEC] took to say Bitcoin is not a security, Ether is not a security,\u201d the SEC\u2019s lawyer said.<\/p>\n<p>So the words of a top official \u2014 reviewed by then-SEC Chair Jay Clayton \u2014 doesn\u2019t reflect commission policy? Does that really mean SEC chair Gary Gensler is going to track down the elusive Satoshi Nakamoto (whoever he or she is) to do to Bitcoin what he\u2019s doing with Ripple?<\/p>\n<p>The SEC declined to comment.<\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Big_Media_vs_Gigi\"><\/span>Big Media vs. Gigi\u00a0<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>The popular explanation for Gigi Sohn\u2019s imploding nomination as an FCC commissioner is ideological: Sohn \u2014 a progressive firebrand \u2014 is the victim of the fiercely partisan debate over who gets to regulate the $22 trillion US economy.<\/p>\n<p>Yes, there is a lot of that at play following the Senate Commerce Committee\u2019s move to put off a vote on Sohn\u2019s nomination until probably next year, and possibly forever. But the Sohn imbroglio is more than a right vs. left fight; it pits a key part of the Democratic donor base against the party\u2019s progressive wing.<\/p>\n<aside class=\"single__inline-module alignright\">\n    <\/aside>\n<p>While Sohn is at odds with conservatives and their allies in the Senate, she\u2019s no darling of Big \u00ad<a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/social-mediaa\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"1\" title=\"Social Media\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Media<\/a>, which has a direct line into the party\u2019s ruling elite involving the FCC: Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, Senate Commerce Committee Chair Maria Cantwell, and of course House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.<\/p>\n<p>You see, as much as the media and Hollywood types love to sound woke, their virtue signaling has limits when money is on the line. Sohn has a long record questioning two issues they hold near and dear to their bottom lines: Overly restrictive copyright protections and something called \u00ad\u201cretransmission consent.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Copyright protections are easy to grasp. Media companies own the stuff they create and copyright. If you pirate the content, you have to pay. The concept of retransmission consent is a little more complex but it leads to the same place: Money and lots of it.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" width=\"1024\" height=\"682\" src=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2021\/12\/GigiSohn.jpg?quality=90&amp;strip=all&amp;w=1024\" alt=\"Georgetown University Law Institute for Technology Law and Policy fellow Gigi Sohn testifies before the House Judiciary Committee's Antitrust, Commercial and Administrative Law Subcommittee in the Rayburn House Office Building on Capitol Hill March 12, 2019.\" class=\"wp-image-20459642\" srcset=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2021\/12\/GigiSohn.jpg?quality=90&amp;strip=all&amp;w=1535 1536w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2021\/12\/GigiSohn.jpg?quality=90&amp;strip=all 1024w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2021\/12\/GigiSohn.jpg?quality=90&amp;strip=all&amp;w=512 512w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\"\/><figcaption>Some Democrats along with Republicans are not in favor of Gigi Sohn\u2019s nomination to be FCC commissioner.<\/figcaption><figcaption><span class=\"credit\">Chip Somodevilla\/Getty Images<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>In the old days, cable operators could take a local network\u2019s signal and air it without a second thought. Congress put an end to that in 1992, so now cable operators must cut deals seeking \u00ad\u201cretransmission consent\u201d with Big Media companies to air their local network programming.<\/p>\n<p>Sohn has a long record stating that both issues grant too much power to Big Media at the expense of consumers. She has advocated the FCC put a limit on how much networks and their powerful parents, i.e. ABC (Disney), NBC (Comcast), CBS (ViacomCBS) and Fox (my employer) can squeeze from these lucrative revenue sources.<\/p>\n<p>The broadcast networks through their lobbying group, the National Association of Broadcasters, put Schumer &amp; Co. on notice that the Sohn nomination as of now is a no-go without some conditions, sources tell me. That\u2019s one reason it has been postponed so Cantwell can work on a plan to save it possibly by having Sohn recuse herself from those two issues when they come up for an FCC vote.<\/p>\n<p>Stay tuned.\n                        <\/p><\/div>\n<blockquote><p><strong><span style=\"color: #ff6600;\">If you liked the article, do not forget to share it with your friends. Follow us on\u00a0<span style=\"color: #ff0000;\"><a style=\"color: #ff0000;\" href=\"https:\/\/news.google.com\/publications\/CAAqBwgKMLG0nwswvr63Aw\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\">Google News<\/a><\/span>\u00a0too, click on the star and choose us from your favorites.<\/span><\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<blockquote>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">For forums sites go to <span style=\"color: #ff9900;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/forum.buradabiliyorum.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Forum.BuradaBiliyorum.Com<\/a><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<blockquote>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong>If you want to read more <a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/news\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"2\" title=\"News\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">News<\/a> articles, you can visit our <span style=\"color: #ff9900;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/en.buradabiliyorum.com\/news\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">News category.<\/a><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><span style=\"color: black;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/2021\/12\/11\/sec-case-against-ripple-labs-sale-a-bit-of-a-double-standard\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Source<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&#8220;#SEC case against Ripple Labs sale a \u2018Bit\u2019 of a double standard&#8221; During last week\u2019s snoozer of a congressional hearing on the $2.5 trillion crypto-blockchain business, we got just a small glimpse into just how little the government knows about a technology that could transform the way we do business. A more complete picture of&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":380159,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2021\/12\/GenslerCrypto.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&w=1024","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[70897],"tags":[74862,121504,99166,76127,75942,77826,118979,40445,72976],"class_list":["post-380158","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-bitcoin","tag-12-11-21","tag-copyright-law","tag-cryptocurrency","tag-fcc","tag-federal-regulation","tag-gary-gensler","tag-media","tag-securities-and-exchange-commission"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/380158","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=380158"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/380158\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/380159"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=380158"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=380158"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=380158"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}