SEC v. Ripple: Hinman Emails Deemed Irrelevant by Legal Expert

Legal expert Jesse Hynes has claimed that internal Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) emails could prove irrelevant to the ongoing SEC v. Ripple case.

In a tweet, Hynes warned that the emails could hold no sway, regardless of whether or not they contain any damning information.

"Yeah people really are creating these grand conspiracies about these emails. These conspiracies are a dime a dozen and constantly keep being proved wrong. Yet the people who help to perpetuate them are still worshipped on pedestals," Hynes added. 

The comments were made in regard to a motion to intervene, in which Roslyn Layton requested access to SEC documents relating to a speech given by former SEC Director of Corporation Finance William Hinman in June 2018. Layton is a columnist and regulatory policy scholar who has written a number of articles about the Hinman speech documents and their significance for the case.

Ripple Labs used some of these documents to support its summary judgment motion, but the SEC moved to seal them on Dec. 22, 2022.

Hynes claimed that the content of the emails, even if it exposed the SEC's corruption, might be irrelevant to whether or not XRP is considered an unregistered security.

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Such a scenario could be a blow to those who believe the internal emails could play a significant role in the outcome of the case, given the potential evidence they contain.

In her filing, Layton requests that the court release these documents to the public and denies the SEC's motion to keep them sealed. The Forbes columnist claims that she has no financial stake in Ripple or XRP, nor financial interest in this case. However, her coverage has been extremely biased in Ripple's favor.

The filing raises arguments based on the First Amendment and federal common law that endow the press and the public with a "potent and fundamental presumptive right" to access "judicial documents."

The SEC v. Ripple case has enormous significance for the future of the crypto industry. Ripple and its executives are facing allegations that they raised over $1.3 billion by selling unregistered securities in the form of XRP. The outcome of the case could set a precedent for the cryptocurrency market as a whole.