Cardano Founder Addresses ETHGate Rumors: Did Ethereum Bribe The SEC To Go After XRP?

Cardano founder Charles Hoskinson recently gave his thoughts on whether the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) had given Ethereum a regulatory free pass as recent rumors suggest.  

In an AMA session shared on X (formerly Twitter), Hoskinson mentioned that the Himman emails and other revelations expose the thought process of the SEC and show that there was unequal application, which he doesn’t see anything wrong with. Furthermore, he believes that none of the Commission’s actions presupposes corruption but only favoritism. 

It is worth mentioning that Hoskinson happens to be a co-founder of Ethereum. However, he was forced to exit the team after he suggested that Ethereum be run as a commercial entity rather than a nonprofit, but this idea didn’t seem to resonate with others on the team. 

As such, one can easily assume that there could be some form of bias in his statement, as he could feel endeared to Ethereum despite the circumstances surrounding his exit. Reacting to the clip, One X user stated that Hoskinson’s “old ETHGATE buddies” may have convinced him to make such statements. 

Meanwhile, others in the crypto community criticized his statement, emphasizing that there was really no difference between favoritism and corruption, especially when a government agency is involved. Some went as far as alleging that Hoskinson could well have been involved in the scandal and that he was talking “like a defendant.”

While Hoskinson may have tried to downplay the Himman emails and other revelations, they undoubtedly lay a foundation as to possible wrongdoings of the Commission. For one, the email showed that Bill Hinman had interacted with Ethereum’s co-founder, Vitalik Buterin before he gave his speech, where he mentioned that ETH wasn’t a security. With this in mind, Buterin could have possibly influenced Hinman’s speech.

There have also been revelations of how the SEC had close ties with Ethereum, which instantly presupposes a conflict of interest as it becomes harder to regulate or deal fairly with such a body without being influenced by external factors. 

Meanwhile, Steven Nerayoff, who was an active participant during Ethereum’s Initial Coin Offering (ICO), continues to allege that the SEC was corrupt in its dealings with Ethereum and that he has evidence to back up his claims. 

Pro-XRP legal expert John Deaton has also confirmed Nerayoff’s claims as he has seen this supposed evidence under the attorney-client relationship. 

In his announcement last month, Deaton mentioned that Bill Himman’s cross-examination would be of “epic proportions” and even offered to handle that personally if the SEC’s case against Ripple were to go to trial.