Ripple CTO bares it all: From SEC lawsuit to crypto regulations in the U.S

In a recent conversation with ThinkingCrypto host Tony Edward, Ripple CTO, David Schwartz spoke about the ongoing SEC lawsuit, Ripple’s vision of development for the future, and his views about President Biden’s latest executive order.

From the lens of Ripple…

Talking about his views on the ongoing lawsuit, Schwartz affirmed that the lack of a clear regulatory policy is driving talent out of the United States. He further went on to state that no other country in the world considered XRP as security and that various US officials have labeled XRP as a currency on multiple occasions.

The lack of clear rules and guidelines has hampered the growth of the crypto space and formed a sense of ambiguity in the market.

“When the SEC filed the lawsuit there was a destruction of $15 billion in market value”, said David Schwartz.

A quick run-through

In December 2020, the SEC filed a lawsuit against Ripple claiming that Ripple raised capital via the initial coin offering (ICO) of its token XRP. The SEC further argued that XRP is not a cryptocurrency but a type of security.

Furthermore, as per the latest development in the SEC versus Ripple lawsuit, the judge opposed the SEC’s motion to not consider emails as substantial evidence. The judge presiding on the case however stated that emails between SEC officials can offer noteworthy information about the standing of the SEC in the ongoing trial. These emails would thus be considered admissible in court.

The future of Ripple…

Speaking of the future of Ripple and its roadmap with financial institutions, such as banks, the Ripple exec stated that the obstacle in these organizations adopting convenient payment options is more regulatory in nature.

Commenting on the issue of NFTs being a part of private ledgers in the coming future, he stated that realistically, banks, in the initial stages, would be extremely comfortable with their own fiat. The Ripple exec also stated that over time the organization plans to make banks more comfortable with new payment alternatives and thus, offer more capability to the private ledger.

Schwartz also stated that partnerships and engagements with central banks in Bhutan and the Republic of Palau are in the pipeline. However, the yet-to-be-disclosed pilot project with Bhutan wasn’t discussed at large. He did mention that details related to phase 2 of this pilot project can be expected soon.

“We hope to share an update on the partnership with Palau which is the other interesting other interesting one that we’ve talked about publicly”, stated Schwartz.

Are regulations the much-need relief?

Touching upon the issue of the crypto executive order, David Schwartz took it as a positive sign and a move in the right direction. He also mentioned that the order comes as a sign of The White House wanting a clear regulatory framework in the crypto arena.

He further stated that regulators looking into the issue could lead to the protection of investors from fraud in the long run and prove to be beneficial. Schwartz affirmed,

“The government, it has to act. It’s not going to get better by the government not doing anything because there’s fear, and there will be scams. It’s important to get crypto right and I think that’s good there’s push for a clear regulatory framework.”