Ripple chief technology officer David Schwartz has countered the Cardano founder’s comments about possible motives behind the United States regulators’ determination that Ether (ETH) is not a security.
Cardano founder Charles Hoskinson addressed the much-debated ETHgate theory in an AMA session on Oct. 8, arguing that the government’s actions were not about corruption.
ETHgate is a conspiracy theory alleging that Ethereum received a free pass from U.S. regulators, particularly the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), which has been reiterating its stance that ETH isn’t a security for years.
Despite SEC director William Hinman defining Ether as not a security in 2018, U.S. regulators have been struggling to establish the status of other coins, including XRP (XRP), which has created significant impediments to their adoption.
“None of that activity presupposes corruption, just favoritism,” Hoskinson argued in the AMA, adding that “this is how the internet works, and it can’t be fixed now.”
The Cardano founder emphasized that there has been no evidence proving anything apart from favoritism by the SEC. “What evidence do you have of that? Where are the emails? Where are the meetings?” Hoskinson asked. He also argued that XRP serves different customers, doesn’t even have smart contracts and has an entirely different business model. He added:
“Doesn’t that dilute your entire goal of making Ethereum not a security to also do that? Are you so scared of XRP that’s going to happen? You really believe that? If you do, you’re a crazy person in my book.”
Hoskinson’s fresh ETHgate-related remarks have quickly triggered a response from the XRP community, particularly executives like XRP chief technology Schwartz. The XRP community specifically clashed with Hoskinson over the definition of corruption.
“I would argue that a government actor showing favoritism aligned with the personal interests of themselves and their friends is corruption,” Schwartz wrote on X (formerly Twitter) on Oct. 12.
“So saying word ‘corruption’ in much polite way is ‘favoritism’,” one commenter stated on X.
Some community members also alleged that Hoskinson’s questions about ETHgate evidence might be related to the fact that he allegedly has a lot to hide about his early days in Ethereum.
Apart from his role at Cardano, Hoskinson is also one of the eight Ethereum co-founders alongside Vitalik Buterin and even briefly held the position of Ethereum’s CEO between 2013 and 2014. Following a public fall-out between the co-founders, Hoskinson left Ethereum in 2014 to subsequently launch Cardano.
Former COVID vaccines minister and chancellor Nadhim Zahawi has announced he will not be standing at the next general election.
The Conservative MP for Stratford-on-Avon since 2010 quoted his “most famous constituent” as he wrote: “Go to your bosom; knock there and ask your heart what it doth know.”
He said: “The time is right for a new, energetic Conservative to fight for the honour of representing Stratford-on-Avon.”
“Parting is such sweet sorrow,” he added, referencing Shakespeare’s Romeo And Juliet.
Mr Zahawi is the 65th Conservative MP to announce he will not be standing at the next general election, which is expected this year.
He was responsible for the COVID vaccine roll-out and was chancellor for two months over the summer of 2022. He was also education secretary for 10 months before that.
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The MP stood to succeed Boris Johnson as Conservative leader but was eliminated from the ballot after the first round of voting and then supported Liz Truss, who made him Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, intergovernmental relations minister and equalities minister.
Mr Zahawi said in his statement: “My mistakes have been mine, and my successes have come from working with, and leading, amazing people.”
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He also thanked his family and friends, and especially his wife Lana, for their love.
He said he had made a “careless and not deliberate” error after initially saying he had no knowledge of the investigation and had “paid all taxes”.
The 56-year-old was born in Baghdad, Iraq, but his family fled the country under Saddam Hussein to live in London when he was 11-years-old.
He added: “Every morning as I shave my head in the mirror, I have to pinch myself.
“How is it that a boy from Baghdad who came to these shores, fleeing persecution and unable to speak a word of English, was able to do as much as I have?
“For all our challenges, this is the best country on Earth, and it helped me make my British dream come true. It was where I built a Great British business, YouGov, and it was where I raised my wonderful family.”
The MP said he felt “immensely privileged” to have served “my country across government”, as he listed his roles, including being responsible for coordinating the Queen’s funeral.
Mr Zahawi found himself unable to enter the United States to visit his children at university in 2017 after then US President Donald Trump banned travellers from some Muslim majority countries, because he was born in Iraq.
He recently made a surprise appearance in an ITV drama about the Post Office IT scandal, playing himself questioning then Post Office chief executive Paula Vennells in a Commons committee inquiry.