Ripple General Counsel Confirms Receipt of Landmark Hinman Documents

The legal council of Ripple Labs has confirmed the receipt of a batch of documents that could help its ongoing legal battle against the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), marking another win for the blockchain giant.

Well Worth the Fight

In the early hours of Thursday, Stuart Alderoty, Ripple Lab’s general counsel, confirmed that they had obtained elusive documents relating to a speech by a former SEC division director.

In a tweet, Alderoty confirmed that Ripple had been looking to get the documents for 18 months and had won up to 6 court orders compelling the SEC to provide them. Although they remain confidential at the SEC’s insistence, the general counsel explained that the discovery was “well worth the fight.”

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 documents relate to a June 2018 speech by former SEC division director William Hinman. In the much-publicized speech – which was made at the Yahoo Finance All Markets Summit – Hinman was on record saying that Ethereum (ETH) – like Bitcoin (BTC) – had been “sufficiently decentralized” and wasn’t subject to the SEC’s regulation since it didn’t quite qualify to be a security.

Hinman’s remarks have been a major point of reference for Ripple. When the SEC sued the San Francisco-based company in December 2020, the agency accused it of offering unregistered security to investors in 2013 when it conducted the initial coin offering (ICO) for its token, XRP. However, Ripple Labs has adamantly asserted that XRP – like ETH and BTC – isn’t a security.

To make its point, Ripple has been looking to get access to the “Hinman documents.” However, the SEC has so far blocked all attempts. All of this came to a head last month when US District Court Judge Analisa Torres ruled that the SEC should provide the speech to Ripple.

Your Move, SEC

Jeremy Hogan, a partner at Florida-based law firm Hogan & Hogan, commented that the briefs would likely be a milestone discovery in the case. As he put it, they would finally show the strength of each side’s position in the case and could be the pivotal point in the entire legal battle. Hogan added that the briefs should be made public on October 24, with the SEC on a timeline to respond.

What is going on in the Ripple v. SEC case?

1. The parties have filed with the Court (under seal) reply briefs to each other's motions for summary judgment. We can't see these, yet. They also filed numerous exhibits, etc. which we also can't see.

1/3

— Jeremy Hogan (@attorneyjeremy1) October 20, 2022

Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse has also been taking a victory lap. In a tweet, he accused the SEC of not caring about clarity and transparency, adding that the financial watchdog had shamefully conducted itself throughout the legal battle.

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. https://t.co/rqEzDXEx1A

— Brad Garlinghouse (@bgarlinghouse) October 20, 2022

The fresh discovery of documents is expected to boost Ripple as it continues to fight the SEC and maintain its ground about XRP’s legal and regulatory status. The company’s top brass has been especially confident that they can win the case, which many have called one of the landmark cases that could easily define the market’s future.

At the DC Fintech Week conference earlier this month, Garlinghouse explained that he expects the legal case to conclude before the end of 2023’s first half. Adding that federal agencies tend to work at a slower pace than private sector players, Garlinghouse gave an optimistic projection that the case could be over by the first few months of next year. However, he did note that it could easily drag on for much longer.

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