Attorney Deaton Says Hinman’s Calendar Entries Show Ethereum Had Exclusive Access to SEC Leadership While Ripple Didn’t

Hinman’s SEC meeting schedule continues to raise controversies.

The recently-published meeting schedule of the former SEC director of corporate finance William Hinman has continued to stir up controversies in the crypto sector. Following the release of Hinman’s itinerary at the SEC, some crypto enthusiasts have noted that the former SEC exec paid more attention to Ethereum (ETH) than other crypto assets. 

As reported by TheCryptoBasic, between 2017 and 2018, Hinman had four scheduled meetings with Ethereum officials. While it is still unknown to determine what was discussed in these meetings, the events buttressed the sentiment that Hinman unfairly targeted a leading crypto project. 

Attorney Deaton’s Opinion on Hinman’s Calendar

Attorney John Deaton, the founder of Crypto Law, recently told Fox Business that the itinerary of the former SEC director of Corporation Finance indicates that Ethereum had exclusive access to the Securities and Exchange Commission. 

“The calendar entries demonstrate that Ethereum founders and investors had exclusive access to the leadership at the SEC,” Deaton said. 

However, he cannot say the same for other crypto projects, as the number of times Hinman scheduled a meeting with other digital currencies was fewer than that of Ethereum. 

“It was a very exclusive club, and Ripple and XRP were not in it,” Deaton added. 

Hinman’s Relationship With Ethereum

Notably, throughout the lawsuit between Ripple and the SEC, Hinman’s controversial 2018 speech, where he declared Ethereum a non-security, has been a major topic of discussion. It is alleged that Hinman made a comment based on his affiliations with the Ethereum project.

Before joining the SEC, Hinman was a partner at Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP, a member of the Enterprise Ethereum Alliance (EEA).

EEA was created for the sole purpose of marketing Ethereum as an enterprise solution. While Hinman was still at the helm of affairs at the SEC’s Corporation Finance, he had meetings with staff from Simpson Thacher even though he was told that the meeting violated SEC rules.

Meanwhile, after leaving the SEC, Hinman received over $9 million in profit earnings from Simpson Thacher.

These developments continue to indicate that Hinman may have given preferential treatment to Ethereum over other cryptocurrency projects.

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