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Ripple Rises Above SEC’s Attempt to Conceal Hinman Docs in Landmark Court Win

Judge Torres has dealt a significant blow to the SEC’s case against Ripple by denying their request to keep the Hinman papers confidential. These papers, named after former SEC executive William Hinman, contain critical information regarding the SEC’s position on digital currencies. 

Hinman’s 2018 declaration that ether (ETH) was not a security is believed to be included in these documents. The information contained within the papers could be a game-changer in Ripple’s legal battle with the SEC.

The SEC in the United States has alleged that Ripple, along with its co-founder Chris Larsen and CEO Brad Garlinghouse, broke U.S. securities regulations by vending XRP without enrolling it as a security. Ripple has challenged the SEC’s allegations, contending that XRP does not fulfill the criteria of a security.

About the Hinman Documents 

In June 2018, the former head of the corporate finance division at the Securities and Exchange Commission stated during a speech that Ether (ETH), the native token of the Ethereum blockchain, was not considered a security. 

However, on December 22nd, the SEC intervened by requesting that internal emails, text messages, and expert reports generated after the speech by Hinman be kept confidential. The SEC argued that their mission was more significant than the public’s right to access documents that were irrelevant to the court’s decision on the summary judgment.

Hinman Documents Goes Public 

Judge Analisa Torres of the U.S. District Court has ruled that the Hinman Speech documents are classified as “judicial documents” and should be available to the public, despite opposition. However, the court has granted two of the SEC’s requests for redaction. 

This involves the elimination of the names and identifying information of SEC specialists and XRP investor declarants, as well as the personal and financial information of the defendants.

https://twitter.com/FilanLaw/status/1658586752121024512?t=xcRcIzn9ese-OGkdJ_DzVw&s=19

Ripple Setback

However, Ripple’s legal battle with the SEC regarding accusations of breaching U.S. securities laws have also encountered a setback when the court denied its requests to keep some references confidential. 

These references contained information linking Ripple’s revenues to XRP sales and the compensation given to trading platforms, among other things. Ripple had deemed this data to be vital evidence. As a result of this news, XRP’s value saw a surge, rising by 2.6%. Presently, XRP is being traded at $0.4569