Ripple Finally Get Access To Hinman Docs From SEC After 18 Months

Ripple has been able to turn the tides in its favor after securing the crucial Hinman documents from the SEC’s clutches that contained the infamous 2018 speech made by a former exec of the regulatory authority.

Ripple’s general counsel Stuart Alderoty who shared the update called it a victory that will strengthen the legal arguments of the blockchain firm.

Alderoty also stated that the documents, which are internal SEC emails and drafts, remain confidential for the time being [at the SEC’s insistence].

While they remain confidential for now [at the SEC’s insistence], I can say that it was well worth the fight to get them. I’ve always felt good about our legal arguments, and I feel even better now. I always felt bad about the SEC’s tactics, and I feel even worse about them now.

The documents centered on William Hinman, a former SEC director, and a widely reported speech he gave in 2018 in which he claimed that Ethereum, like Bitcoin, was “sufficiently decentralized” and was therefore exempted from federal securities regulation.

The blockchain firm argued that the controversial statement appears to favor “two winners” in the cryptocurrency space, Bitcoin and Ethereum, at the expense of XRP.

That said, many proponents of Ripple/XRP believe that the trial is nearing its end with a clear winner.

According to attorney Fred Rispoli, the plaintiff appears to be entering the final stage of grief: “Acceptance. SEC has to start looking PAST the Ripple case and literally saving its own people from civil and criminal litigation after this case,” he wrote.

Rispoli feels that the commission has only one option looking forward and that is by ‘losing at summary judgment to protect its argument that the case wasn’t a sham from the get-go [even though of course it was]”.

Here’s What DOGE Proponent Elon Musk Tweeted On Ripple’s Case

Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse also took to Twitter to voice his criticism saying that the SEC’s “shameless behavior” will be finally exposed.

But the XRP community was particularly amused by one particular tweet and that was none other than multibillionaire Elon Musk himself.

Doge Proponent Musk replied to Garlinghouse’s rant, seemingly mocking the SEC by commenting, “No way,” to show that such behavior from the regulator did not surprise him.

As reported by TronWeekly, Ripple and Co filed a memorandum of law under public seal as a rebuttal to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission’s motion for summary judgment.

The SEC has maintained that XRP sales qualify as an “investment contract,” despite Ripple’s claims to the contrary.


Lipika Deka: Lipika is a crypto-journalist at TWJ. A graduate in economics and finance, she has a keen interest in the political and socio-economic facets of blockchain technology and the cryptocurrency industry.