IMPORTANT POINTS:
- Ripple victory: In the legal dispute between Ripple and the SEC, the judge denied the SEC’s request to seal documents related to a speech by William Hinman in 2018.
- The judge ruled that the documents in question are “court documents subject to a strong presumption of public access,” meaning they must be disclosed. This includes documents related to Ripple’s XRP sales.
- The decision not to seal the documents is seen as a victory for transparency and a setback for the SEC, which has been accused of trying to hide crucial information during the case. Brad Garlinghouse, CEO of Ripple, celebrated this victory and expects a favorable verdict this summer.
Fintech company Ripple has scored another victory in its long-running dispute with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). This latest decision turned out to be favorable for those who own XRP.
The judge in charge of the Ripple case against the SEC rejected on the 16th of this month, a request presented by the securities regulator. Torres denied a request to seal all documents related to a June 2018 speech by former SEC head William Hinman.
According to Judge Torres, the Hinman documents are considered “court documents subject to a strong presumption of public access.” Consequently, she ordered the disclosure of all the evidence mentioned in his ruling, which included other documents related to Ripple’s XRP sales and other matters that were under sealing motions.
The filing stated: “Regardless of whether the Court ultimately determines that the Hinman speech documents are admissible, or whether the Court relies on the documents in ruling on motions for summary judgment, they are court documents subject to a strong presumption of public access because they are ‘relevant to the performance of the judicial function and useful in the judicial process’”.
In addition, he added that sealing these documents would not have anything to do with preserving “openness and candor” within the agency.
In December, the SEC filed the request to seal the internal emails, text messages and expert reports that followed Hinman’s speech. However, Judge Analisa Torres ruled that these documents were considered “judicial documents” and should be included in the case.
On May 17, Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse celebrated it as “another victory for transparency!” In June 2018, William Hinman stated that, in his opinion, “the current offers and sales of Ether are not securities transactions.” Ripple has used this argument in its fight against the SEC, which has accused the company of selling unregistered securities.
The SEC has been doing everything possible to keep these crucial documents and speeches hidden from the public during the case. Garlinghouse expects a verdict to be reached this summer. A win for Ripple would be a pivotal moment for the crypto industry as a whole and a setback for the SEC’s over-regulation.
As for XRP prices, they have increased by almost 10% in the last week. At the time of writing, the cross-border cryptocurrency Ripple was trading at USD 0.46.
XRP has once again approached the resistance level around USD 0.460, where it was located at the beginning of May. At the end of March, it hit a local high just below $0.55 but failed to sustain momentum.
