The Ripple/XRP team has recorded another big win in their long-standing court battle with the United States securities watchdog - SEC. The lawsuit which began in December 2020 has been named the biggest crypto legal tussle of the century as it has lasted for over 18 months. The bone of contention of the case is whether the XRP Ledger native token XRP is a security or not.
As this lawsuit filed against Ripple, the San Francisco-headquartered crypto solutions company and cross-border payment services provider by the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) regarding XRP seems to be winding down, the infamous and highly controversial William Hinman speech documents have been handed over to the leading enterprise blockchain company (Ripple).
Per the update, the SEC has requested that Ripple keep the information contained in the documents away from the public.
William Hinman 2018 Speech Documents Released to Ripple
According to a Friday update shared on Twitter by Stuart Alderoty, Ripple's general counsel, the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) led by Gary Gensler has finally complied with the ruling of the two District Judges, Sarah Netburn and Analisa Torres regarding the William Hinman 2018 speech internal drafts and emails, where Ethereum (ETH) was mentioned.
The speech made about two years before the emergence of the Ripple-SEC litigation became a bone of contention and important for Ripple in the ongoing case because of the vital point contained in it.
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In a speech made in 2018 by William Bill Hinman, a former Director of Corporation Finance at the SEC, he described Ether (ETH), the leader of alternative coins and the native token of the largest smart contract platform, Ethereum blockchain as a non-security.
Ripple argues that XRP possesses numerous similarities with ETH and BTC hence, shouldn't be deemed a security by the regulatory agency. In consequence, legal representatives of the crypto solutions company have since filed motions demanding that the SEC release the internal drafts and emails related to William Hinman's 2018 speech to Ripple and the court.
Considering the implications of releasing the documents, the SEC developed many tactics that helped them conceal the documents in question for as long as they could. Interestingly, the regulatory agency has been left with no choice but to release the documents to the case Defendants (Ripple Labs Inc., Chris Larsen, and Brad Garlinghouse), following the Judges' latest decision.
In a Friday update, Ripple General Counsel Stuart Alderoty wrote;
Over 18 months and 6 court orders later, we finally have the Hinman docs (internal SEC emails and drafts of his infamous 2018 speech). 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.
Of course, this has given rise to a lot of excitement in the XRP community and the entire crypto community as it is a hugely positive development.
Ripple Guns For Victory, Interest in XRP Grows
Looking at the present state of the Ripple-SEC lawsuit, things seem to be going in favor of the crypto solutions company. As a result, there has been an increased interest in XRP from several crypto proponents.
Recently, several unconcerned third parties have filed amicus briefs in support of the Summary Judgment motion filed by Ripple. While the case is predicted to be given a final ruling in 2023, Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse is confident XRP isn't a security.
According to the Ripple CEO, a win for Ripple and XRP is crucial as that will positively impact the crypto industry. Whereas, a win for the SEC could give the securities agency a precedent to attack and/or bully more crypto companies.
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