The U.S. SEC has submitted documents of former Director William Hinman to Ripple (XRP), according to an Oct. 20 tweet from Ripple General Counsel Stuart Alderoty.
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.
— Stuart Alderoty (@s_alderoty) October 20, 2022
The crypto company also opposed the SEC’s motion for summary judgment.
Ripple confirms receipt of Hinman documents
Alderoty confirmed the receipt of the documents, saying the fight to get the documents (18 months and six court orders) was worth it. The documents include internal SEC emails and a draft of a 2018 speech where Hinman declared that Bitcoin and Ethereum were not securities.
Meanwhile, the documents will remain confidential, but Alderoty’s tweet suggested that the documents made the firm’s defense more robust and its victory almost certain.
Regarding this development, Ripple’s CEO Brad Garlinghouse described the SEC’s actions as shameful. Garlinghouse said:
“The SEC wants you to think that it cares about disclosure, transparency and clarity. Don’t believe them. When the truth eventually comes out, the shamefulness of their behavior here will shock you.”
Ripple opposes SEC’s motion for summary judgment
In a separate development, Ripple has filed its opposition to the SEC’s motion for summary judgment, arguing that the commission could not satisfy the Howey test by proving that its common enterprise theories all amount to broad vertical commonality.
The crypto firm continued that the SEC could not establish that XRP holders reasonably expected profits from its efforts. To butress this point, the firm presented signed affidavits from XRP users who said they did not expect profits from Ripple’s efforts.
Ripple added that even if its users had expected profit, the mere expectation of profit is insufficient to create an investment contract. The firm also stated that the SEC could not prove that the sales of XRP happened under U.S. laws.
Ripple wrote:
“The U.S. securities laws do not apply extraterritorially. Thus, the SEC has the burden to prove the domesticity of each and every offer to sell and sale of XRP.”
Meanwhile, a lawyer Jeremy Hogan expressed surprise that “Ripple is not arguing the Fair Notice Defense but is arguing that the Fair Notice Defense is an issue of fact which should go to a jury trial.”
Ripple price drops
Despite the positive news aiding Ripple’s case against the SEC, the value of XRP tanked by roughly 4% within the last 24 hours to $0.44.
According to a community member, the fact that Ripple’s latest effort did not positively influence XRP’s value “is evidence to the contrary of the SEC argument.”
One of the biggest events of the last 18 months for $XRP with the production of the #Hinman emails, yet the price still doesn’t move.
More evidence to the contrary of the @SECGov argument that the price is influenced by @Ripple efforts.
— Liam | Coinpresso (@LiamCryptoSEO) October 21, 2022
