The Commission Says it Cannot Admit or Deny If Bill Hinman is Actually in the Video

As the long-running legal war between the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and Ripple continues, we regularly get new portions of Ripple news. The Commission said it could not confirm or deny the identity of Bill Hinman in a video that has become a significant subject in the case. The SEC and Ripple Labs dispute has been going on for a long while and has significantly affected XRP. 

The recent update on the Ripple and SEC matter hangs around Bill Hinman, the former director of the Division of Corporate Finance at the SEC. Also known as William Hinman, the Commission’s former executive was subject to a deposition by Ripple in 2021. At the time, U.S. District Court Judge Sarah Netburn also denied a motion from the SEC to suppress the deposition. 

While speaking at the Fintech Week Conference in June 2018, Bill Hinman, who was serving at the SEC at the time, stated that the ETH was not “securities transactions.”

The deposition was to augment Ripple’s claim that XRP is not a security. In Ripple’s argument, the SEC cannot regulate XRP as a security because the token is a medium of exchange for both domestic and international transactions. 

Bill Hinman is just the current update on the legal fight with the SEC and Ripple. It all started in 2020 with the Commission suing Ripple for failure to register $1.4 billion of XRP as securities. The case has attracted the attention of industry experts, and it appears the matter is not ending soon.

SEC Says Available Information is Insufficient to Admit or Deny Hinman in the Video as Ripple Case Lingers

As the struggle continues, the law firm representing Ripple Debevoise & Plimpton has submitted a motion to compel Request for Admission (RFAs). According to the legal team, the RFA is to “narrow the case” for both parties and the court. The team also said the RFA aims to reduce litigation costs. The law firm says the motion should “eliminate the need to prove facts about which there is no real dispute.”

The motion says they failed to respond to 53 RFAs on “important subjects” and 26 RFAs that seek the authentication of recorded remarks by SEC commissioners and senior executives. Notably, there was a recorded interview at an event where Bill Hinman said Ethereum did not constitute securities transactions. Despite that, the SEC has refused to confirm or deny the authenticity of the recording.

The SEC has yet to state its decision on whether the statement was really made by Hinman or not, which is no good news for Ripple. The video was uploaded to YouTube by Chris Brummer, who interviewed Hinman back in 2018. 

The U.S. SEC claims:

“Subject to all of the foregoing objections, and after reasonable inquiry, the information is known and currently available is not sufficient to enable the Commission to admit or deny this request.”

In another interesting update, a federal judge has demanded that the SEC release some materials. They include drafts of speeches, emails, and documents that Ripple claims could shed more light on the case. However, the Commission stated “attorney-client” privilege as a reason for communication to remain private. The SEC said Bill Hinman reached out to SEC staff to seek their legal advice.