Vitalik Buterin and Ripple’s CTO Engage in Twitter Spat Over XRP

While Ripple execs claim that the company has been unfairly treated by the SEC, Ethereum frontman Vitalik Buterin hasn’t been exactly silent either. In a fresh jibe, the latter accused the former of throwing Ethereum under the bus as “China-controlled.”

The latest feud also started with a discussion of new regulatory changes in Canada with Ontario-based crypto exchanges – Bitbuy and Newton – imposing a 30,000 CAD annual “buy limit” for “restricted coins” for their users to “protect consumers” amid tightened regulations, except for altcoins – Ethereum (ETH), Litecoin (LTC), and Bitcoin Cash (BCH).

This is when Buterin stepped in and praised the Ethereum community for pushing against regulations that privilege Ether over other legitimate crypto-assets. When Bankless.eth founder, David Hoffman, responded by saying that he wouldn’t have said anything if Ontario exchanges had restricted XRP, Buterin then sneered back, saying,

“XRP already lost their right to protection when they tried to throw us under the bus as “China-controlled imo.”

Ethereum-Ripple Feud

Buterin lambasted Ripple for labeling Bitcoin and Ethereum as controlled by China back in 2020. The founder then said that the blockchain company, currently embroiled in a fight with the SEC, had sunk to “new levels of strangeness.”

Needless to say, the latest anti-XRP comment by Buterin has garnered significant traction that even David Schwartz didn’t hold back. Once again, the Ripple CTO reaffirmed his company’s stance of Bitcoin and Ethereum being securities while comparing miners of the two networks with shareholders of eBay.

“The goverment should punish projects that disagree with our narrative” seems pretty on brand for ETH. Also, I do think it’s perfectly fair to analogize miners in PoW systems to stockholders in companies. Just as eBay’s stockholders earn from the residual friction between buyers and sellers that eBay does not remove, so do miners in ETH and BTC.”

Schwartz then proceeded to ask Buterin if the debate should be settled by the market or the government.

Ripple Lawsuit

With no regulatory clarity in sight, the status of crypto-assets has been a bone of contention for years. The ongoing US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) vs. Ripple case is expected to provide a much-needed breakthrough for the industry.

The regulatory agency alleged that Ripple conducted illegal security offering through sales of XRP. However, the company claimed several victories in its continuing legal battle while the SEC has been at the receiving end of significant mockery. This may potentially indicate that a verdict may be nearer.