The Ripple Labs vs. SEC lawsuit is nearing its final ruling as the Ripple lawyers decide to leave no stone unturned. One major point of interest is the 2018 speech of former US Securities and Exchange Commission official William Hinman, which could turn the case in the favor of the blockchain company.
At the Yahoo! All Markets Summit: Crypto event in San Francisco, Hinman said to the audience that he does not see the value in treating Ethereum as a security. His reason was that the asset is not backed by any central figure or a group, hence, putting it outside the bracket of an investment contract. Hinman further stated in a written remark:
Based on my understanding of the present state of ether, the ethereum network, and its decentralized structure, current offers and sales of ether are not securities transactions.
SEC has made all attempts to block this document from getting into the public domain. However, District Judge Analisa Torres, of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, has in a recent ruling clarified that SEC cannot seal that document since they are relevant to the judicial process. It can be recalled that a magistrate judge in the same court, Sarah Netburn, in January 2022 instructed the Agency to turn over the documents to Ripple
As part of the ruling, Judge Torres allows the SEC to redact the names and personal information of the people mentioned in the document
As Judge Netburn found in her order dated January 13, 2022, the Hinman Speech Documents are not protected by the deliberative process privilege because they do not relate to an agency position, decision, or policy. Therefore, sealing these documents would not be related to preserving ‘openness and candor’ within the agency, nor would such an interest be substantial enough to outweigh the strong presumption of public access.
In an explanation to Ripple enthusiasts, James K. Filan, a former federal prosecutor, has stated that the parties have until June 6, 2023, to file the redacted version of the summary judgment document publicly. According to Filan, the parties are bound by the September 12, 2022 court order asking them to file the summary judgment document in the public docket. This is supposed to be filed 21 days after the court decides their sealing requests, and June 6 would be the deadline
Update on timing regarding when we should see the documents ordered unsealed. According to the Court’s 9/12/2022 Order, the parties have 21 days to file public, redacted versions of Summary Judgment documents consistent with the sealing.
This clarification was well-received by the Ripple community including a prominent XRP enthusiast Ashley Prosper. According to Prosper, it is likely that this could lead to a settlement as both parties would not want their documents unsealed by the judge to be available in the public domain
The ruling of this case could make or break the crypto ecosystem as the SEC has launched several attacks on some crypto firms through law enforcement actions. The industry’s key players believe that the existing security laws should not apply to these emerging technologies.
XRP stands a good chance of staging a rally with the positive sentiments generated among enthusiasts. The asset has surged by 8.7 percent in the last seven days to trade at $0.46 as of press time
