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A recent verdict from the U.S. federal court has denied a request by the country's securities watchdog to conceal its internal discourse that followed a notable address by former director William Hinman, marking this as a significant victory for Ripple and the broader digital currency sphere.
In June 2018, William Hinman, who was then the director for the corporate finance division of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), declared during a speech that Ether (ETH), the principal currency of the Ethereum blockchain, does not qualify as a security.
The SEC sought to obscure the subsequent internal emails, expert analyses, and text messages resulting from Hinman's announcement by submitting a motion on December 22. The regulatory body contended that its mission superseded the "public's right" to view records that hold "no importance" to the court's summarizing judgment verdict, among other points of contention.
However, Judge Analisa Torres of the U.S. District Court disputed this, stating that the documents in question are indeed "judicial documents," implying a robust presumption in favor of public availability. She further stated that the "Hinman Speech Documents" could reasonably affect the court's verdict on a motion.
Although the court has decided that the documents related to Hinman's speech should be available to the public, it has acquiesced to the SEC's other two requests. These include masking the identities and pertinent details of SEC experts and XRP investor declarants, as well as the private and financial data of the defendants.
The court has also rejected some requests from Ripple to seal certain documents, such as those connecting Ripple's revenue to XRP sales and the compensation proposed to trading platforms.
Ripple has long held that Hinman's speech is a pivotal part of the evidence in its ongoing lawsuit with the SEC. The latter claims that the sales of Ripple's XRP infringe U.S. securities regulations.
