The United States securities regulator is seeking to keep the infamous Hinman Speech documents hidden from its case with Ripple Labs, claiming that they are irrelevant to the court’s judgment. As expected, the crypto community has reacted to the latest event by criticizing the commission’s move.
Seeking To Cover Information
On December 22, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filed the “Motion to Seal Summary Judgement Document,” requesting that some information from the Hinman Speech document be censored.
According to the commission, the document has no bearing on its ongoing case with Ripple Labs. It is worth noting that the Hinman Speech document denotes the remarks of the former head of the SEC’s corporate finance unit, William Hinman, in June 2018 at the Yahoo Finance All Markets Summit.
Hinman said Ethereum’s Ether was not a security asset at the time. However, Ripple is confident that the document has some helpful information to use as evidence against the regulator in their ongoing court tussle.
Meanwhile, in its latest motion, the SEC stated that its mission far outweighs the right of the public to access a document that has no relevance to the court’s judgment verdict. The SEC also requested that any connections the case has with the Hinman Speech be redacted from the defendants’ papers.
Some crypto community members allege that Gary Gensler, the SEC chair, has an agenda against Ripple Labs. Furthermore, the regulator also requested that it be allowed to cover information given by its expert witnesses and XRP investors, who submitted statements along with internal memos that reflect discussions and deliberations by its officials.
The SEC’s action comes a few weeks after Ripple Labs filed what many consider to be its final submission against the commission on December 2. Ripple’s move signifies that the two-year legal tussle might soon be over.
Using The Hinman Speech Documents
According to the embattled crypto firm, it had access to the documents after an 18-month wait and six court orders requesting the regulator make them available. Being a confidential document, the SEC was unwilling to accept the demand.
Several courts have previously declined the SEC’s request to keep the Hinman Speech documents secret. A US judge has previously called out the agency for its hypocritical stance on the issue.
After taking over as the new head of the securities regulator, Gensler has pledged to make digital assets safe for everyone. However, the SEC chair finds himself in the bad books of the crypto industry as he takes an extreme stance in regulating the crypto industry.
Crypto players have accused Gensler of implementing regulations through enforcement. Despite his aggressive regulatory stance, Gensler has always kept quiet on critical industry issues affecting the crypto space.
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