The Ripple vs SEC lawsuit has taken a new twist with the recent discovery that the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) previously confirmed that XRP is not a security long before the delivery of the controversial Hinman speech. This revelation was made by pro-XRP lawyer and founder of Crypto Law, John Deaton, who found a small footnote in a Ripple opposition brief from last year that confirmed a discussion with SEC staff prior to the speech. This new information has rekindled Ripple’s hopes of winning the case.
The lawsuit was filed by the SEC against Ripple in December 2020, alleging that the blockchain payments firm, its CEO Brad Garlinghouse, and co-founder Chris Larsen sold unregistered securities. The regulatory body claimed that Ripple had raised over $1.3 billion through an ongoing securities offering for the XRP coin. Ripple has been battling this assertion, stating that XRP is not a security and should not be treated as such.
Several XRP investors filed a petition against the SEC and then-acting chairman Elad Roisman, arguing that the regulatory actions against Ripple do not align with its mission statement. However, these petitions did not change the course of the lawsuit until Ripple started talking about the Hinman speech.
William Hinman, a former director of corporate finance at the SEC, declared that Bitcoin (BTC) and Ethereum (ETH) were not securities, and this became a contentious point for the regulatory body and a presumed winning point for Ripple. The previous non-security classification of both BTC and ETH by the SEC was cited as one of the reasons why XRP is not a security. Additionally, the statement of Brian Brooks, then-acting director of the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC), was also brought into the picture. He suggested that platforms like Ripple could replace the SWIFT system.
Ripple then fought for and received permission for a deposition of the former director, which the SEC opposed. However, a recent ruling by District Judge Analisa Torres of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York stated that the SEC cannot hold back the Hinman document, as it’s relevant to the legal process, and it’s expected to be turned over to the public after Ripple Labs has drawn its defense with them. These developments in the case have sorted to give Ripple a much brighter outlook.
Despite the broad optimism of massive XRP price growth up to $20 by industry experts, it’s not yet clear how this recent development will influence the token’s price in the long term. At the time of writing, XRP was trading at $0.4502. It’s worth noting that Crypto News Flash doesn’t endorse or take responsibility for any content, accuracy, quality, advertising, products, or other materials on this page. Readers are advised to perform their own research before taking any actions relating to or relying on cryptocurrencies.
