Ripple CEO: Hinman docs are ‘well worth the wait’

June 13, 2023 Coin Telegraph

Brad Garlinghouse hinted that the eagerly awaited Hinman documents, which detail internal deliberations by Securities and Exchange Commission staff, could tip the court battle in Ripple’s favor.

With just one day until the Hinman documents are due to be unsealed, Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse suggests the documents will be “well worth the wait."

In a June 12 Twitter reply to a question raised by crypto YouTuber Jungle Inc, Garlinghouse said that while he did not want to “overstep,” both he and Ripple's chief legal officer Stuart Alderoty see the documents as being worth the 18-month fight to get them unsealed.

Wish I could go in depth now, but we've waited this long (18+ months), I don't want to overstep… suffice it to say @s_alderoty and I believe they were well worth the wait.
— Brad Garlinghouse (@bgarlinghouse) June 12, 2023

The Hinman documents refer to internal SEC messages concerning a 2018 speech given by former Securities and Exchange Director William Hinman. In the speech, Hinman said that while cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin (BTC) and Ether (ETH) may start off as securities, it’s possible for them to become something more akin to a commodity once they become sufficiently decentralized.

Many Ripple advocates believe that the imminent unsealing of the documents will prove instrumental in providing further insight into the legal status of Ripple’s native XRP (XRP) token.

The unsealing of the documents comes amid an extremely turbulent time for the crypto industry. June 13 will also see the federal court will hear the SEC’s motion to freeze the assets of Binance.US, following on from a spate of legal action against the exchange.

The next 36 hrs will be critical for crypto.

Today 5 pm: @Binance files its opposition to SEC's motion for order freezing assets of @BinanceUS

Tomorrow 2 pm: Hearing on SEC's motion to freeze assets

Tomorrow (sometime): Release of summary judgment exhibits (including Hinman…
— MetaLawMan (@MetaLawMan) June 12, 2023

The SEC first took legal action against Ripple in December 2020, alleging that the sale of its native XRP (XRP) token represented an unregistered securities offering. Since then, Ripple has denied XRP is a security, arguing it does not satisfy the Howey test.

While many top Ripple executives have long been predicting an imminent end to the rollercoaster lawsuit from the SEC, pro-XRP lawyer John Deaton recently claimed that presiding Judge Analisa Torres would almost certainly come to a final decision before Sept. 30 of this year.

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Ripple case: Pro-XRP lawyer tips outright SEC victory at ‘less than 3%’

June 5, 2023 Coin Telegraph

Attorney John Deaton says there’s a 25% chance Ripple will see an outright win against the Securities and Exchange Commission, while rumors fly of a possible Ripple IPO.

Pro-XRP lawyer John Deaton has tipped less than a 3% chance for the United States Securities and Exchange Commission to score an outright win against Ripple, as an end to the long-running lawsuit draws closer.

The CryptoLaw founder has been a vocal advocate for Ripple against the SEC, which filed a lawsuit against the company in December 2020, alleging that the sale of its XRP (XRP) token represented an unregistered securities offering.

In a June 3 episode of The Good Morning Crypto podcast, Deaton said he tipped a 25% chance that presiding U.S. District Judge Torres rules in outright favor of Ripple, and a 50% chance that Ripple claims victory by way of a “splitting the baby” ruling.

This refers to Judge Torress “drawing a line in the sand,” where she could potentially rule that XRP was offered as an unregistered security before 2018. However, in the wake of the Hinman documents — which refer to internal SEC messages related to a 2018 speech given by former SEC Director William Hinman — it’s possible that cryptocurrencies can transition from securities to commodities once they become sufficiently decentralized.

“I think that XRP itself is going to be deemed not a security and that I think that secondary market sales show comment. Even if [Judge Torres] does rule finding that Ripple violated the law, that doesn't apply to secondary market sales,” Deaton explained.

While Ripple executives including its CEO Brad Garlinghouse have long been predicting an imminent end to the rollercoaster lawsuit from SEC, Deaton highlighted that Judge Torres will most likely come to a final decision before Sept. 30 this year.

Deaton brought attention to what he called a “six-month list” that district judges must file to Congress. The list details all of the summary judgements that have been pending for longer than six months. It gets published on the last day of March and the last day of September.

“She [Judge Torres] has never been on this list. It’s like a public shame list that says ‘look I’m shitty at my job.’”

Additionally, Deaton also gave his predictions for the price of Ripple’s native XRP token following a positive ruling.

“I certainly believe that somewhere believe $2 and $10 is reasonable”

Speaking to Cointelegraph on May 22, Deaton said that the Ripple community should also keep a close eye on June 13, where investors will discover if XRP was actually discussed “between SEC staff prior to the Hinman speech.” This date is when the Hinman materials will most likely be unsealed and could have a drastic impact on the case.

There are also rumors circulating that Ripple may potentially IPO as a public company following the conclusion of the lawsuit.

NEW: In April, @Ripple hosted a private "road show" (a marketing event where a company and its underwriters meet with potential investors to generate interest in an IPO). I'm told it was attended by just about every reputable institutional investment firm on the Street. https://t.co/fyTzi6pr0W
— Eleanor Terrett (@EleanorTerrett) June 1, 2023

According to a June 2 tweet from Fox Business journalist Eleanor Terrett, Ripple hosted a “road show” where it met with underwriters and other investors to garner interest in a potential public offering.

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Ripple CEO Says Company Spends $200 Million Fighting SEC Lawsuit Over XRP, Ruling Could Come in 3 Months

May 8, 2023 Bitcoin.com

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Ripple counsel: SEC’s shakedowns leave consumers holding the bag

August 30, 2022 Coin Telegraph

Coin Telegraph

The response comes as Ripple Labs and other critics believe the SEC has overstepped its mark on the enforcement of the crypto space.

Ripple Labs General Counsel Stu Alderoty has hit back at a recent opinion piece by Security and Exchange Commission chairman Gary Gensler, arguing that the regulator's crypto market shakedowns aren’t protecting consumers.

In an Aug. 28 opinion piece on the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) titled “The SEC Wants to Be America’s Crypto Cop,” Alderoty claimed the SEC is “pushing aside his follow regulators” instead of concentrating on providing regulatory clarity for crypto.

He gave an example of the recent “shakedown” of BlockFi by the SEC, which led to the company ending “up on the auction block” and two other similar companies going “belly up," arguing:

“Consumers weren’t protected, they were left holding the bag.”

The piece came in response to Gensler’s Aug. 19 article “The SEC Treats Crypto Like the Rest of the Capital Markets” which was also published on WSJ a defended the regulator's crackdown on the crypto industry.

The Ripple counsel however argues that the SEC hasn’t provided sufficient clarity over crypto regulation and instead declares itself as “the cop on the beat” for crypto.

He claims the chairman is “pushing aside his fellow regulators” and “front-running” President Biden’s executive order which asks regulators to collaborate on crypto regulation.

The executive order, Alderoty referred to is the “Ensuring Responsible Development on Digital Assets,” which was signed on Mar. 9. 2022 to ensure that both the SEC and Commodity Future Trading Commission (CFTC) coordinate and collaborate on establishing a crypto regulatory framework.

However, Aldetory claims the SEC has neither abided by the executive order nor provided any “regulatory clarity for crypto” and is instead “protecting its turf at the expense of more than 40 million Americans in the crypto economy.”

Gensler argued in his article that U.S. federal security laws were designed to protect investors and that “there’s no reason to treat the crypto market differently from the rest of the capital markets just because it uses a different technology.”

But many critics disagree, with Forbes writer Roslyn Layton suggesting in an Aug. 28 opinion piece that the SEC’s decision to double its Crypto Assets and Cyber Unit staff and the SEC’s “regulation by enforcement” approach as reasons for the contrary.

Earlier in the month, U.S. Attorney John Deaton also claimed foul play, in that Gensler and the SEC were intentionally targeting cryptocurrencies, and that it has overstepped the mark on what they can currently do to regulate crypto:

“It doesn’t take a constitutional law expert to understand that the SEC has limited jurisdiction over the crypto industry; barring congressional action, front line regulation of digital assets belongs with the Commodity Futures Trading Commission — the main regulator of investments that are not deemed traditional securities.”