Court allows SEC to edit documents related to Hinman’s Ethereum speech

Judge Sarah Netburn in the SEC v. Ripple case granted the regulator’s motion to amend two documents related to speech by the former head of the agency’s Corporate Finance Department, William Hinman, in 2018 on Ethereum’s status.

#XRPCommunity #SECGov v. #Ripple #XRP Magistrate Judge Netburn has granted the SEC’s request to make redactions to two drafts of Hinman’s June 2018 speech that discuss pending determinations before the SEC. pic.twitter.com/qAN6sPw7Rw

— James K. Filan 🇺🇸🇮🇪 123k (beware of imposters) (@FilanLaw) October 31, 2022

At the time, the former official pointed to the sufficient decentralization of the second-largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization. For this reason, it cannot be construed as a security, he explained.

The documents concern SEC staff discussions about aligning Hinman’s speech with the regulator’s position in this area.

Earlier, Commission officials said that the former official’s remarks reflected his personal views. In February the SEC filed a motion with the court, according to which Hinman expressed the Corporate Finance Department’s position. In this way the regulator sought to extend the DPP to the drafts of the speech.

On July 12, Judge Netburn called the regulator’s position hypocritical and rejected the motion to disclose internal documents.

On August 16, the Commission accused Ripple’s lawyers of using a “fundamentally inconsistent argument”. In its objection to the court’s decision, the SEC noted that Hinman’s speech is not related to the case, and cited the attorney-client privilege.

In late September, Judge Analisa Torres ordered the agency to disclose the documents. Then attorney James Filan suggested that the regulator could delay handing over the internal papers “for another two to three months”.

In October, Ripple received internal documents from the SEC.

On October 31, Ripple also gained backing from Coinbase as an amicus curiae — “friend of the court” in this case.

#XRPCommunity #SECGov v. #Ripple #XRP #Coinbase has filed a request to file an Amicus Brief in Support of Ripple’s Fair Notice Defense.https://t.co/0pbE2w8X3e

— James K. Filan 🇺🇸🇮🇪 123k (beware of imposters) (@FilanLaw) October 31, 2022

The document states that the SEC suit led to $15 billion in losses for the exchange’s clients due to the forced removal of the XRP token from Coinbase’s listing.

Earlier this week, Blockchain Association took up a similar initiative. Previously, Grayscale Investments had done so.

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