Ripple CTO Counters Cardano Founder Statements Regarding ETH Gate

Ripple CTO David Schwartz reacts to Cardano founder’s remark about Hinman’s email, saying it’s corruption when government actors show favoritism aligned with their personal interest.

David Schwartz, the Chief Technology Officer (CTO) at Ripple Labs, has reacted to remarks made by Cardano founder Charles Hoskinson regarding the “ETH Gate” theory.

As reported earlier, Hoskinson claimed that the drafts of William Hinman’s speech do not prove corruption but favoritism. He made this known while emphasizing that no evidence supports claims that Ethereum officials bribed the SEC to go after Ripple Labs.

Ripple CTO Reacts

Hoskinson’s recent comments about the Hinman emails stirred reactions among XRP community members and top Ripple execs.

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Reacting to the remark, Schwartz gave a contrary opinion to Hoskinson’s assertions. The Ripple CTO pointed out that it is corruption when “a government actor shows favoritism aligned with the personal interest of themselves and friends.”

I would argue that a government actor showing favoritism aligned with the personal interests of themselves and their friends is corruption.

— David "JoelKatz" Schwartz (@JoelKatz) October 12, 2023

Hinman’s Relationship with Ethereum

Notably, the Hinman emails proved that the former director of SEC’s Corporation Finance met with Ethereum co-founders Vitalik Buterin and Joseph Lubin before giving the speech, where he declared ETH and BTC as non-securities.

Hinman declared the assets as non-securities despite top SEC officials warning him not to do so. Consequently, many people alleged that Hinman might have received financial incentives from Ethereum officials to make the declarations.

His involvement with Simpson Thacher, a member of the Enterprise Ethereum Alliance (EEA), was also brought to light. According to reports, Hinman received over $15 million from Simpson Thacher during his tenure at the SEC.

Hoskinson Reacts to ETH Gate Theory

It bears mentioning that the Hinman speech is part of the events that birthed the ETHGate theory. For context, “ETH Gate” is a theory alleging that the core team of Ethereum fostered relationships with key SEC officials to ensure ETH gets favorable regulations over other crypto assets.

The allegation has stirred major debate within the industry, with top crypto stakeholders joining the discussion. In a recent AMA session, Hoskinson commented on the ETH Gate allegation, emphasizing that the theory now has two concepts.

According to him, on the one hand, some crypto enthusiasts allege that the ETH Gate relates to Ethereum officials using their connections to convince SEC insiders to create a favorable regulatory environment for the cryptocurrency.

On the other hand, Hoskinson stated that some crypto community members believe that the theory involves Ethereum officials bribing the SEC to go after XRP, which led to the Ripple lawsuit.

“These are very different things. It is one thing to use relationships to protect your own thing. It is another thing to use relationships in a conspiracy to attack a competitor.”