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Ripple chief technology officer David Schwartz has countered the Cardano founder\u2019s comments about possible motives behind the United States regulators\u2019 determination that Ether (ETH<\/a>) is not a security.<\/p>\n Cardano founder Charles Hoskinson addressed<\/a> the much-debated ETHgate theory in an AMA session on Oct. 8, arguing that the government\u2019s actions were not about corruption.<\/p>\n 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\u2019t a security<\/a> for years.<\/p>\n 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<\/a>), which has created significant impediments to their adoption.<\/p>\n According to Hoskinson, Hinman\u2019s speech drafts on the regulatory status of Ethereum<\/a> \u2014 which were released in June 2023 \u2014 do not prove corruption but favoritism.<\/p>\n \u201cNone of that activity presupposes corruption, just favoritism,\u201d Hoskinson argued in the AMA, adding that \u201cthis is how the internet works, and it can\u2019t be fixed now.\u201d<\/p>\n The Cardano founder emphasized that there has been no evidence proving anything apart from favoritism by the SEC. \u201cWhat evidence do you have of that? Where are the emails? Where are the meetings?\u201d Hoskinson asked. He also argued that XRP serves different customers, doesn\u2019t even have smart contracts and has an entirely different business model. He added:<\/p>\n \u201cDoesn\u2019t that dilute your entire goal of making Ethereum not a security to also do that? Are you so scared of XRP that\u2019s going to happen? You really believe that? If you do, you\u2019re a crazy person in my book.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n Hoskinson\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n \u201cI would argue that a government actor showing favoritism aligned with the personal interests of themselves and their friends is corruption,\u201d Schwartz wrote<\/a> on X (formerly Twitter) on Oct. 12.<\/p>\n \u201cSo saying word \u2018corruption\u2019 in much polite way is \u2018favoritism\u2019,\u201d one commenter stated<\/a>\u00a0on X.<\/p>\n Related: <\/em><\/strong>Sam Bankman-Fried just like Bernie Madoff, Cardano founder says<\/em><\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n Some community members also alleged that Hoskinson\u2019s questions about ETHgate evidence might be related to the fact that he allegedly has a lot to hide about his early days in Ethereum.<\/p>\n Apart from his role at Cardano, Hoskinson is also one of the eight Ethereum co-founders alongside Vitalik Buterin and even briefly held<\/a> the position of Ethereum\u2019s CEO between 2013 and 2014. Following a public fall-out between the co-founders, Hoskinson left Ethereum in 2014 to subsequently launch Cardano.<\/p>\n Magazine: <\/em><\/strong>Blockchain detectives \u2014 Mt. Gox collapse saw birth of Chainalysis<\/em><\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n