The legal battle between the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and blockchain firm Ripple may soon take a significant turn, as the company’s CEO Brad Garlinghouse has disclosed that the long-expected Hinman documents are “worth the wait.”
In a Monday tweet and response to a question by crypto YouTuber Jungle Inc, the chief executive expressed his desire to talk in-depth about the documents but chose not to overstep, as the community had waited for so long to get to this point.
Worth the Wait
The Hinman documents, scheduled to be released on June 13, refer to internal SEC messages related to a 2018 speech by former Director William Hinman, which classified Ether (ETH) as a commodity. The former SEC official explained that while Bitcoin (BTC) and ETH started as securities, they can become commodities once they become sufficiently decentralized.
Ripple insists that its native token, XRP, was sold in the same manner as ETH when founded, and since the latter was not classified as a security, the former was a commodity as well.
The SEC has been on Ripple’s case for roughly two years, alleging that the sale of XRP was an unregistered securities offering. The company, on the other hand, keeps denying the allegation on the basis that the token does not meet the requirements of the Howey test. Both entities have engaged in several back-and-forth motions, preventing the court from resolving the matter.
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Ripple’s legal team sought the transcript of Hinman’s speech to substantiate their claims. Despite several objections from the SEC, New York judge Analisa Torres ordered the agency to submit the documents in September 2022.
An Eventful Week
Garlinghouse’s latest statement comes as several digital asset firms prepare to legally face the SEC over a range of allegations and charges in what will be an eventful week for crypto.
Binance.US, the American affiliate of the world’s largest crypto exchange Binance, is set to oppose the Commission’s motion to freeze its assets in line with a lawsuit filed on June 5; the SEC sued the global entity for operating an unregistered securities exchange, broker, and clearing agency.
In addition, the SEC is set to follow an order from the Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit to state its stance on the Coinbase rulemaking petition within seven days, as it brought an enforcement action against the crypto exchange over alleged securities law violations.
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