5 Points From Ripple Case That Could Be Bad for Ethereum If SEC ‘Goes After ETH ICO’

Top XRP enthusiast highlights five points from the recent ruling in the Ripple case that could be bad for Ethereum investors if the SEC goes after ETH ICO.

As the crypto community continues to comment on Ethereum’s ICO, top XRP community member Ashley Prosper has highlighted five points that could be detrimental to Ethereum investors if the SEC ever decides to “go after” ETH’s early sales.

#XRP #XRPCommunity
I just realized that points 1-5 would be very bad for the Ethereum folks if the SEC ever decided to go after the ICO. #ETHGate. Perhaps there’s more to this than meets the eye. https://t.co/N2PTiXHM0p pic.twitter.com/V0Lmb0ilxS

— Ashley PROSPER (@AshleyPROSPER1) October 4, 2023

It bears mentioning that the points are from the recent court ruling in the SEC v. Ripple lawsuit. According to the screenshot shared by Prosper, the court affirmed that Ripple’s programmatic sales of XRP do not constitute securities because investors could not reasonably expect profit from the company’s efforts.

As a result, the court listed eight factors it considered before issuing the decision. Notably, Prosper said the first five factors will put Ethereum investors at risk if the SEC ever decides to clamp down on ETH ICO.

5 Factors that Could Spell Doom for Ethereum

In the ruling, the court found that Ripple’s programmatic sales were blind bid/ask transactions, and buyers could not have known whether their money went to the blockchain company.

Additionally, the court declared that Ripple’s programmatic sales represented less than 1% of the global XRP trading volume.

Furthermore, the court pointed out that the blockchain company did not issue any promises or offers to programmatic buyers because it did not know who was buying XRP on digital exchanges.

Also, the court pointed out that many programmatic buyers did not know about Ripple’s existence. Lastly, it concluded programmatic sales of XRP were not made pursuant to contracts that contained lockup provisions or statements of purpose.

Crypto Community Puts Ethereum ICO in the Spotlight

Notably, the early sales of ETH have been a major topic of discussion in the broader crypto community. Last month, former Ethereum adviser Steven Nerayoff further drew the attention of the crypto community following his revelations.

Nerayoff hinted at the challenge of identifying the number of buyers of ETH ICO, thus stirring speculations that some whales might be hiding their position.

Following Nerayoff’s disclosure, there have been a series of allegations about Ethereum ICO. One of the allegations includes claims that the Ethereum team violated the ICO’s Terms of Service (ToS).

Moreover, a viral audio of Ethereum co-founder Joseph Lubin also piles further pressure on the cryptocurrency. In the audio, Lubin promised investors ahead of ETH ICO that the company would not require a real-world identity during sales.

He also promised investors that they could participate in ETH ICO using different identities to make disguise easier.

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