Sean Ono Lennon, the youngest son of the legendary John Lennon, took to the X social media app (previously known as Twitter) to clarify his recent “crypto joke” that referred to Ripple’s CTO David Schwartz.
As well as apologising, the musician gave his support to Ripple ($XRP). This was in light of the recent court ruling that gave the crypto project a historic win over the SEC. Lennon said Ripple made the commission “look like smooth brained whiny little babies”.
Lennon posts a Ripple joke on X
Lennon shared a post on X jokingly alerting his community about potential impersonators attempting to reach them through social media. The post included a picture of David Schwartz, which the Ripple CTO had added to his X profile less than an hour before.
Lennon humorously cautioned his followers, implying the image of Schwartz was “an imposter” using deep fake technology to mimic him.
He posted on X: “I know he is my exact clone down to the far away wistful whimsy in his eyes, but the deep fake tech has gotten that good! Be safe out there folks.”
Lennon apologises and shows supports for Ripple
Reacting to confusion around the initial post, Lennon clarified in a new comment. He said he was “sorry” if the joke went over some users’ heads.
He noted that his “crypto joke” had been misunderstood and many believed that David Schwartz, the co-founder of the XRP Ledger, was actually attempting to impersonate Lennon.
Along with his apology, Lennon shared support for Ripple. He pointed out Schwartz’s recent triumphs, stating, “I think he’s happy being him. Especially after making the SEC look like smooth brained whiny little babies.”
Sean Lennon’s crypto history
Over the past few years, Sean Lennon has increasingly shown support for cryptocurrencies. It started with initial positive remarks about Bitcoin during the 2020 pandemic.
More recently, Lennon has expressed admiration for the recently launched Friend Tech crypto platform, even referencing the project in his X posts.
In a recent post, Lennon acknowledged an X user for purchasing his “Friend Tech key” for 0.27 ETH.
“Keys” is the updated term the Friend Tech platform has adopted for its native token.
Ripple’s triumph over the SEC
Lennon’s most recent support for Ripple comes after a major win for the crypto project.
The US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) accused Ripple and its co-founders of violating securities laws in 2020. The alleged breach involved the sale of $1.3billion worth of the native cryptocurrency, XRP, without its prior registration as a security.
Throughout a three year legal battle, Ripple challenged the SEC’s allegations, stating that XRP is not a security but is more similar to a commodity.
In an industry defining decision made this July, US District Judge Analisa Torres ruled that XRP wasn’t necessarily a security.
Following this, the SEC expressed its intention to file an appeal. The commission argued that the continuous “programmatic” sale of XRP on crypto trading platforms could lead investors to expect profits based on the efforts of others.
In response, Ripple’s legal team highlighted in their filings that the SEC’s urge to appeal was mainly due to their “dissatisfaction” with Judge Torres’s decision, particularly concerning XRP’s classification for retail sales.
