u.today
Stuart Alderoty, chief legal officer at Ripple, recently drew parallels between the internet and crypto following recent decisions made by the U.S. Supreme Court.
On July 1, the highest court in the federal judiciary sent several controversial laws pertaining to social media back to lower courts. Hence, there is no final ruling on whether states can prohibit social media companies from moderating content that is being posted on their platforms.
The Supreme Court opinion, which was authored by Justice Elena Kagan, says that the record is "underdeveloped," which is why there is a need for more input from lower courts.
Kagan has stated that the public "likely" no longer needs the definition of the term "internet" due to how ubiquitous it has become over the last thirty years. She has noted that Facebook and YouTube alone boast more than two billion users.
Alderoty is convinced that this Supreme Court opinion also highlights the "vast potential" of cryptocurrencies. "The opening paragraph of today’s Sup Ct’s decision on internet content highlights crypto’s vast potential. In 1997 only 40 million people used the internet and most didn’t even know what it was," he wrote in a social media post.
Many cryptocurrency enthusiasts have drawn parallels between the internet and digital assets in order to highlight the latter's disruptive potential. However, a report by Architect Partners has challenged this popular narrative by highlighting that crypto is being adopted at a much slower pace. Moreover, it remains smaller than the internet industry in the early 00s.