Ripple’s Leg Up In SEC Lawsuit As It Strengthens Fair Notice Defense

Key Takeaways

• Excitement has the recent ruling to compel the SEC to produce Bill Hinman’s speech to Ripple.

• Fox Business’ Charles Gasparino states that the ruling will help Ripple point out the SEC’s bias to ETH.

• Other Ripple proponents also point out the ramifications of the ruling.

A recent ruling in the case between the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and fintech company Ripple has been the subject of a lot of recent debate. Last few weeks, Judge Sarah Netburn ruled that the SEC had to provide several documents that the securities regulator had previously placed under Deliberative Process Privilege (DPP).

The ruling which was in response to Ripple’s motion to compel the SEC to produce documents it considers to be pivotal to its case is being considered to be a mixed one according to Fox Business’ Charles Gasparino. Gasparino has stated that the ruling favors Ripple as Bill Hinman’s famous speech in which he declared Ethereum and Bitcoin to not be securities, and the drafts of the said speech which were circulated within the commission will be presented as evidence in the case.

“Mixed ruling for Ripple but judge says all drafts of former SEC official  Bill Hinman’s now-famous speech on what constitutes a security will be admitted as evidence,” he noted.

What the ruling means for Ripple

This has been one of the outcomes that Ripple has been seeking and will be good for Ripple according to Gasparino. The Hinman speech can be used by Ripple to point out the SEC’s bias in favor of Ethereum. On the flip side of the ruling is the fact the SEC has distanced itself from the speech. The commission has established that the speech was the personal opinion of Hinman and did not constitute a regulatory statement.

The significance of the ruling is still unwinding as more analysts have been weighing in. According to attorney John Deaton, who is leading the charge of XRP holders’ participation in the case, one of the consequences of the ruling is that Bill Hinman will have to answer for making such a statement publicly at the time. Deaton points out that the SEC, by having Hinman sign affidavits that the speech was only his opinion, was leaving him exposed to legal action.

Another point Deaton raised as a ramification of the ruling is that it strengthens Ripple’s fair notice defense and can prove that SEC officials had a conflict of interest. A part of the ruling is for the SEC to produce notes from meetings held with third parties. He argues that these third parties are likely to include Joseph Lubin of ConsenSys who Hinman consulted with during the build-up to his speech.

The state of the case and Ripple’s XRP at the moment

While the legal teams involved are ironing out their differences, the XRP community is waiting expectantly to see how the debacle plays out. The ongoing expert disclosure has been extended to February following a motion that cited concerns over COVID, and several previous delays in the schedule.

As no clear end to the case is in sight, the price of XRP has continued to struggle. XRP is trading at $0.61, down around 10% in January.