There are many indications that the SEC vs. Ripple legal battle is nearing its end. The scales are tipping ever more strongly on the side of the XRP token issuer. This time due to U.S. District Court Judge Analisa Torres, who issued a key decision.
It’s time for Hinman’s documents to be released
The Ripple team is once again notching a small victory in its clash with the SEC. U.S. District Court Judge Analisa Torres on Thursday, September 29, denied the SEC’s request to withhold documents relevant to the case. Thus, the SEC was obliged to provide them. At issue are contents written by the former director of the SEC’s Division of Corporation Finance, William Hinman. The vast majority of them refer to a famous conference, taking place back in 2018. It was there that Hinman, during his speech, pointed out that Bitcoin (BTC) and Ether (ETH) are not securities. His perception of the market at the time would also affect other crypto projects, including XRP.
The upshot is that Ripple maintains the position that the information contained in the documents will prove crucial to the case.
Another rejection of the SEC’s objection
This is not the first time the Court has rejected the SEC’s request to keep the documents out of the hearing. This time, the SEC invoked the deliberative process privilege, which allegedly required that these contents be kept secret. It was this request that Judge Torres opposed. In contrast, the previous time the SEC referred to the attorney-client privilege. That motion, however, was denied back in July by Judge Netburn.
The court’s decision was commented on by attorney John Deaton, who is watching the case:
“The crypto market should be grateful that Ripple is fighting this case. If you add up the legal fees that Ripple incurred to finally get a ruling from Judge Torres, it’s probably $2-3 million, and they still don’t have the documents.”
Closer and closer to final ruling
The SEC vs. Ripple case has been firing up the cryptocurrency community for almost two years now. However, there are many indications that it is coming to an end. Both sides in the dispute, on September 17 of this year, filed motions for summary judgment. This one is expected to be released as early as December. There are many indications that Ripple will be the winning party here. With regard to this situation, the XRP exchange rate has risen over the past two weeks, by nearly 80%.
