• The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission’s (SEC) ongoing lawsuit against Ripple has taken a blow after a federal judge ruled that documents relating to the “Hinman emails” must be unsealed for public access.
• These documents contain internal SEC deliberations about a speech delivered by former SEC official William Hinman in 2018 when he stated in his official capacity that he believed both Bitcoin (BTC) and Ethereum (ETH) are not securities.
• Crypto attorney James K. Filan says previous court orders indicate the Hinman documents will be made public by June 6th.
SEC Lawsuit Against Ripple Suffers Setback
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission’s (SEC) ongoing lawsuit against Ripple has taken a blow after a federal judge ruled that the public has the right to see documents which have been one of the most contentious issues of the lawsuit.
Documents To Be Unsealed For Public View
U.S. District Judge Analisa Torres ordered that documents relating to the much-discussed “Hinman emails” be unsealed for public access. The documents contain internal SEC deliberations about a speech delivered by former SEC official William Hinman in 2018 when he stated in his official capacity that he believed both Bitcoin (BTC) and Ethereum (ETH) are not securities.
Ripple’s Relevance Of Documents
Ripple says the documents are highly relevant and could reveal why the SEC has appeared to pick winners and losers in the crypto industry by declaring some crypto assets as securities and not others. The SEC had repeatedly tried to keep the Hinman documents out of the courtroom, but once Torres ruled they must be turned over, the SEC later filed a motion in December to keep some of the contents sealed from public view.
Judge Denies Motion To Keep Documents Sealed
This week, however, Torres denied the SEC’s motion, citing various case precedents as evidence for her ruling on making them available for public access instead of keeping them hidden away from view. Crypto attorney James K. Filan says previous court orders indicate the Hinman documents will be made public by June 6th .
Background On Case
The SEC launched its lawsuit back in December 2020 alleging that Ripple has been selling XRP as an unregistered security for years prior to this action being taken against them..