Roslyn Layton: The Unsung Hero in SEC v Ripple

By Shawn B

I, like many others, am often wary of powerful organizations with a voice , a la media. While they often purport to be fair, factual and thorough in their reporting, the truth is always somewhat left to their conjuring. This rings especially true for the cryptocurrency and blockchain industry. Many a media outlet choose to blindly perpetuate dated sentiments vilifying the industry – most of which, while they may have had some past truth to them, a decade later are no longer grounded in fact. Many a media outlet also choose to ignore major newsworthy issues, presumably either in league with or in hopes of avoiding contentions with the government. Such is the case in reporting on the ongoing SEC v Ripple battle in the Southern District of New York.

Nearly all major news outlets have largely ignored this precedence-setting legal battle, and those that have feigned reporting attempts have merely soft-balled their reports and interviews with government officials. One stands, however, above this abject failure of a pack – Forbes – with Roslyn Layton almost single-handedly leading the charge, documenting the titillating twists and turns of this titular tectonic case. If John E Deaton is the defender, Jeremy Hogan the elucidator, James Filan the impartial bearer of news, then Roslyn is the megaphone amplifying the voices in the marginalized XRP community.

This is an ode to Ms. Layton, Senior Contributor at Forbes, who analyzes international technology policy through business economics. She has been sounding a consistent alarm against the government overreach in her nearly two dozen articles on the case – open for all to who choose to see. In case you have missed the soundbox and are interested in getting up to speed on all the case developments, all her articles are reverse chronologically hyperlinked below. She did pen one titled “Gary Gensler: Resign”, which was removed from the Forbes website – I suspect at the behest of some top-down defender of the crown. A DropBox .pdf version is has been made available here because, as we all know, the Internet never forgets.

Roslyn, you are always on fire with your SEC v Ripple articles. Your passion, your clarity of expression and your articulation always translate to insightful pieces. You are truly talented!

On another note

For those of us in the industry who either claim to not have seen or understood the far-reaching implications of the case, I don’t buy the excuse that it wasn’t clear until after both Motions for Summary Judgement were filed – you were downright willfully ignorant! That perspective was immediately visible to (and highlighted by) the XRP community, Ripple, and many lawyers in the industry, having thoroughly read the initial and amended complaints. Roslyn Layton’s first article on the issue was published on December 29, 2020; J ohn Deaton’s Petition for Writ of Mandamus was filed on January 1, 2021; and Judge Sarah Netburn asked – in the first hearing in March of 2021 “Presumably under this theory then, every individual in the world who is selling XRP would be committing a Section 5 violation?”

The SEC, in oral arguments, deleteriously tried to sweep away the “per se” issue, but the argument persisted in their amended complaint and subsequent filings. It was, is, and always will be there. The MSJ wasn’t the commencement of this argument, but rather the confirmation of their long-standing attack against the industry that many chose to either ignore or disbelieve. Further, the XRP community, et al’s theories were not given enough credence until further SEC enforcement actions highlighted the SEC’s crusade. The crypto community’s tribalism self-inflicted wounds that may be unsurvivable unless we acknowledge the true source of attack. I’m no lawyer – far from it – just a man of “ordinary understanding”. If I could see it, it wasn’t well hidden. Indeed, the major difference with the wider crypto community was some were/are so blinded by abject abhorrence for Ripple that they may have non-objectively chosen to focus on Ripple rather than assessing the merits of the SEC arguments. The market, in effect, chose to celebrate their “favorite poop coin” getting sued. And while we remained willfully blind in our hatred of Ripple and XRP, the SEC sinisterly used our ignorance to attempt to destroy the rest of the industry. Shame on the industry for falling for such trickery.

Finally, the only thing I’ll give the SEC credit for is their own understanding of the tribalism and their willingness and effectiveness in using it against an industry that fully embraces willful ignorance. Kudos SEC! They, in effect, teamed up with us in order to destroy us.

Oct 31, 2022

Crypto Law Experts Suggest SEC Likely To Lose Key Case And Discredit Howey Test

https://www.forbes.com/sites/roslynlayton/2022/10/30/crypto-law-experts-suggest-sec-likely-to-lose-key-case-and-discredit-howey-test/?sh=25ee405a5ca3

Aug 28, 2022

Gensler Says Crypto Treated Just Like The Market; 200 SEC Lawsuits Say Otherwise.

https://www.forbes.com/sites/roslynlayton/2022/08/28/gensler-says-crypto-treated-just-like-the-market-200-sec-lawsuits-say-otherwise/?sh=5a05ac972c0f

Aug 25, 2022

Gary Gensler: Resign

https://www.dropbox.com/s/cyyfo4twmsnekoj/Gary%20Gensler_%20Resign.pdf?dl=0

Jul 17, 2022

SEC Slapdown Is A Wake-Up Call To Congress

https://www.forbes.com/sites/roslynlayton/2022/07/17/sec-slapdown-is-a-wake-up-call-to-congress/?sh=1ac65f882fbd