John Deaton, a prominent pro-XRP lawyer, blasted the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), suggesting that the Ripple vs. SEC lawsuit affected Ripple’s growth and hurt the XRP adoption rate in the United States.
On September 3, Deaton took to X to criticize the SEC, accusing the regulator of damaging XRP’s growth and adoption in the US. He claimed the legal tussle between the blockchain company and the American regulator has affected XRP’s use as a cryptocurrency payment option in the country.
Here’s is a small yet significant example of how the lawsuit hurt #XRP’s adoption. I was just purchasing an item over the internet and the payment options include: “Pay with cryptocurrency with @BitPay.”
BitPay originally included #XRP – it was one of the first ones utilized.… pic.twitter.com/MGsbWEGnOA
— John E Deaton (@JohnEDeaton1) September 3, 2023
SEC Puts a Dent in XRP Adoption in the United States
As per the detailed post, Deaton gave an example that he termed “small yet significant” of how the lawsuit hurt Ripple’s business. He noted that even though crypto payment has seen increased adoption recently, XRP is still not accepted in the United States.
The attorney took the example of BitPay, a cryptocurrency payment platform used by Amazon. He said the platform used to initially process XRP payments in the US but stopped after the SEC’s lawsuit against Ripple.
Deaton highlighted the plight of XRP following the lawsuit that has been dragging on for more than two years. He took a jibe at Dogecoin (DOGE), stating that a cryptocurrency that was created as a joke, is accepted for payments on BitPay, while XRP, a token developed specifically for payments, is not accepted. He wrote,
“DOGE was created as a joke. Yet, because of the SEC, the joke token gets used as a payment token but the payment token is not allowed. Yeah, that makes perfect SEC sense.”
Deaton Praises Ripple For Standing Up Against SEC
Recently, Deaton hailed Ripple for its decision not to settle with the SEC. He claimed this as a bold move that demonstrates Ripple’s refusal to be intimidated by the regulator, even though it may have had political agendas.
Stop bowing down to transient regulators. Fight back if you can. Kudos to Ripple and its two executives, sued individually for the sole purpose of intimidation, for not settling like the SEC assumed. https://t.co/E0uMzqBDwM
— John E Deaton (@JohnEDeaton1) August 31, 2023
This comes shortly after the upcoming trial date for another showdown between Ripple and the SEC was unveiled. On August 24, Eleanor Terrett, a journalist at Fox Business, revealed a crucial document that was shared by the SEC with Judge Torres of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, disclosing the upcoming trial take might place during the second quarter of 2024.
🚨NEW: The @SECGov has provided Judge Torres with dates they are available and unavailable for trial in the second quarter of 2024. 👇🏼 pic.twitter.com/44ipW54QpF
— Eleanor Terrett (@EleanorTerrett) August 23, 2023
Meanwhile, on August 29, Brad Garlinghouse, the CEO of Ripple (XRP), announced plans for a “proper victory party” for members of its community in New York City on September 29 to celebrate the recent partial win against the US SEC.