Hinman documents to be made public in Ripple vs SEC lawsuit

Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse has stated that the emails of a former SEC officer William Hinman, which have not been censored, will soon be made accessible to the public.  

This action, which Garlinghouse lauded as a major step towards openness, resulted from Judge Torres’ order. 

The US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and Ripple are still in a legal battle over whether or not XRP, Ripple’s native cryptocurrency, can be regarded as a security. 

Ripple is fighting back against the accusations made by the SEC in the ongoing legal battle by saying that XRP is not a security and, thus, should not be subject to the same rules as securities.

The emails sent by Hinman have the potential to give insight into the internal talks and opinions on the topic that has been taking place at the SEC, which has been the subject of investigation. The judgment of the court incorporates several previous essential decisions. The SEC refused the application to seal the papers about the Hinman speech, but the commission’s other demands were granted. 

Ripple submitted the request to seal that was rejected for various reasons, including explicit references tying Ripple’s earnings with XRP sales. Another victory for the cause of transparency was achieved in this case when third-party requests to redact identities and the names of public bitcoin trading platforms were rejected. 

This court victory has likely boosted investor confidence since XRP has increased by 5.5% in the last twenty-four hours alone as of the press time. 

Even though Ripple’s legal problems are nowhere near resolved, a recent event is significant in defining the narrative around the SEC’s claims and the larger discourse about the regulatory environment for cryptocurrencies.