u.today
It seems that the $XRP debate is not over. If anything, it is picking up steam again just as the altcoin gains traction with a major institutional milestone; it is also being pulled back into legal discourse.
John Deaton, attorney and prominent voice during the Ripple v. SEC battle, being a legal representative of $XRP holders in this case, recently weighed in after a critic on X dismissed the cryptocurrency as a scam and pushed Bitcoin and Ethereum as the only legitimate digital assets.
Deaton’s response did not just defend $XRP; it challenged the broader framing of regulatory fairness in crypto. Here is his angle: even if you think Ripple’s team cashed in too hard or that $XRP is not your favorite coin, that does not mean the SEC’s classification was justified. Deaton’s point was less about liking $XRP and more about opposing how it was treated.
To him, saying that all $XRP is a security, no matter how it was acquired, crosses a line. That kind of thinking, he argued, misses what market freedom is supposed to be about.
He is no Bitcoin skeptic either, as Deaton noted that 80% of his net worth sits in BTC. When he criticizes the SEC, it is not from a pro-$XRP tribal stance. It is about how rules are applied, and whether they are being used as tools — or weapons.
Meanwhile, $XRP just scored a major win, with CME announcing $XRP futures trading will launch on May 19, 2025. That kind of move usually signals growing comfort from big-money players. But just as the asset takes a step forward, a new legal cloud rolls in.
$XRP was recently listed as an unregistered security in a fresh lawsuit against Coinbase, filed by Oregon’s Attorney General Dan Rayfield. It was not alone; other big-name tokens like ADA, AVAX, AAVE, UNI and LINK were included. Paradigm’s Justin Slaughter flagged the move, while Coinbase dismissed it as a regulatory overreach dressed up as enforcement.