In a recent tweet, Ripple CTO David Schwartz, also known as @JoelKatz on the X social media network, commented on a post by another user regarding the legal overreach of the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) in relation to cryptocurrencies and “unregistered securities.”
The XRP community showed their support for Schwartz in mocking the SEC and its chairman, Gary Gensler.
“Accepting an offer of a contract?”
User @jeremyjudkins_ posted a photo of himself holding a branding iron with a Tesla logo, stating that he would brand his backside with it if the post received 100,000 likes. This prompted a response from David Schwartz, questioning whether his like could be considered as accepting “an offer of a contract.” This remark seems to allude to the SEC’s classification of certain cryptocurrencies as securities and their ongoing legal battles with various crypto platforms.
The XRP community rallied behind Schwartz, making cheeky comments such as “this offer looks like a security to me,” “Is this a physical NFT?” and “Gary will see this lol.”
This tweet came in the wake of reports that the SEC plans to increase its scrutiny on crypto and companies involved in cryptocurrency trading, staking, and investment services by 2025.
David Schwartz is no stranger to the SEC’s regulatory actions in the crypto space. Ripple, the company he works for, has been embroiled in a legal battle with the SEC since 2020. In 2023 and earlier this year, Ripple secured two significant victories, with one court ruling stating that XRP was not a security when sold in secondary markets. However, the SEC has recently filed an appeal against this decision.
SEC gears up for stricter crypto scrutiny
According to Fox Business journalist Eleanor Terrett, the Securities and Exchange Commission has included cryptocurrency in its list of examination priorities for 2025. Despite no major crypto-focused companies registering with the SEC this year, Terrett speculates that the regulator may focus on companies dealing with Bitcoin and Ethereum, as these are the only cryptocurrencies that the SEC deems not to be securities but commodities.