The SEC has finally handed over emails and documents that may prove crucial to the Ripple versus SEC case.
Since 2020, the firm behind cryptocurrency XRP has been involved in a legal battle with the SEC asserting that Ripple sold unregistered security illegally.
On Thursday, the general counsel for Ripple, Stuart Alderoty, confirmed the news via Twitter. Declaring a major victory, he mentions that the team has finally obtained internal emails and a draft of Hinman’s 2018 speech.
Although the materials are confidential, he insists that it was ‘worth the fight’ to retrieve them.
Ripple Obtains Draft of Hinman Speech
Much of the documents are about William Hinman, former SEC director, and a 2018 speech in which he declared that Ethereum was adequately decentralized like Bitcoin. Hence, it didn’t fall under federal securities regulation.
Hinman’s statement is the biggest factor causing much uncertainty with regard to crypto regulations. Thus, they play a crucial role in the SEC lawsuit against Ripple.
Currently, Ripple’s XRP token has a market capitalization of $22.3 billion. Based on CoinGecko data, this makes it the sixth-biggest cryptocurrency by rank.
SEC Internal Documents Could Strengthen Ripple’s Case, Says Alderoty
In last month’s proceedings, a federal district judge overruled the SEC’s continuous efforts to keep Ripple from obtaining the Hinman documents.
The company is certain that the internal emails will reveal discussions that led to the infamous speech, which favors the reigning cryptocurrencies Bitcoin and Ethereum at the cost of Ripple’s XRP.
Ripple had won the right to request access back in January. At the time, some analysts felt that the documents wouldn’t do much to help Ripple’s case, but Alderoty disagrees.
While explaining his confidence in the team’s legal arguments, Alderoty expressed that he feels ‘even worse’ about the SEC’s policies.
Ripple CEO Slams SEC on Twitter
Brad Garlinghouse, CEO of Ripple, took things a step further. As Ripple celebrated its 10th anniversary a few hours before the Hinman emails were obtained, he slammed the SEC on Twitter.
He explained that the SEC has ‘no regard’ for the people and companies it harmed with its irresponsible approach. He went on to Tweet that people shouldn’t believe that the SEC cares about clarity, transparency, and disclosure.
Ripple’s legal team also expects to hear from Hinman himself, after winning an opportunity to depose him last year. The decision to speak with him directly comes after the court overruled the SEC’s efforts to access information on Ripple’s executive compensation.
As of now, both parties have called on a summary judgment as opposed to a trial, which increased XRP values by 44 percent.
Ripple claims that the SEC still doesn’t have an adequate legal theory as to why XRP should be registered as a security.
James Thompson