The request of the SEC to seal papers in the Ripple Labs case has been criticised by the community.
The United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has sought that the records related to the infamous Hinman Speech be sealed, arguing that they are irrelevant to the court’s summary judgement decision.
The SEC filed the Motion to Seal Summary Judgment Document on December 22, demanding the sealing of certain material and documents, including the Hinman Speech papers.
The Hinman Speech materials pertain to a speech given by former SEC Corporation Finance Division Director William Hinman in June 2018 at the Yahoo Finance All Markets Summit, where he supposedly indicated that Ether (ETH) was not a security.
Equities fall by $1,221
The Ethereum blockchain’s native coin, is not a security.
Ripple thinks it is a key piece of evidence in its case against the U.S. regulator.
In its most recent move, the SEC argued that its purpose exceeds the “public’s right” to view information that is “irrelevant” to the summary judgement determination of the court.
Additionally, it demanded that all references to the Hinman Speech Documents be “blacked out” from the defendants’ documents.
The crypto community has criticised the SEC’s proposal, with one user implying that SEC Chairman Gary Gensler has a secret motive.
Anyone else wonder what Gary Gensler and the SEC are hiding? 🧐
— XRPcryptowolf (@XRPcryptowolf) December 22, 2022
The petition also asked that information about the SEC’s expert witnesses and XRP investors who filed declarations, as well as internal SEC records that show official discussion and debate, be kept secret.
It happens just a few weeks after Ripple Labs sent its final response to the SEC on December 2. This suggests that the two-year legal battle may soon be over.
No surprise the SEC wants to keep the Hinman emails/docs redacted. At this point, given J. Torres’ rulings to date (including her position that the emails are likely only relevant for impeachment), I predict she probably rules to keep them redacted. Sad, but not unreasonable.
— Fred Rispoli (@freddyriz) December 22, 2022
After 18 months and six court orders, Ripple confirmed on October 21 that it had received access to the Hinman Speech Records, however, the SEC insisted that the documents stay confidential.
The courts earlier refused the SEC’s request to keep Hinman records secret, with the U.S. judge calling the SEC’s actions hypocritical.
