Ripple v. SEC court case update as of February 24, 2023

Ahead of the largely anticipated summary judgment in the case between Ripple and the United States regulator, the Securities Exchange Commission (SEC), the matter is recording increased attention regarding the Hinman speech documents. The documents, closely guarded by the SEC, are likely to impact the direction of the final ruling.

Under the latest update, U.S. government watchdog Empower Oversight announced its support of the motion filed by journalist Roslyn Layton to unseal the Hinman documents, the agency said on February 23. 

This comes after Layton filed a motion before presiding Judge Analisa Torres to gain access to SEC documents on the ground that the information is of public interest. Empower Oversight support adds to the agency’s involvement with SEC, having previously questioned the regulator’s conduct in providing crypto sector oversight.

“The SEC has consistently stonewalled any attempts from public interest transparency organizations, including Empower Oversight, to shine a light on conflicts of interest and ethical questions at the agency. The public deserves answers from the SEC as to what exactly the agency knew about Hinman’s speech and when they knew it,” said Jason Foster, Founder and President of Empower Oversight.

SEC’s alleged conflict of interest 

The Hinman speech is a critical document in the Ripple case, containing the possible SEC position on cryptocurrency classification. Ripple’s legal team is seeking access to the speech, believing it could apply to XRP. In the matter, SEC has sued Ripple for selling unregistered security in the form of XRP tokens. 

Indeed, Empower Oversight has recently launched legal proceedings questioning SEC’s approach to providing oversight in the digital sector space. 

In this line, the watchdog opposed the SEC’s motion for summary judgment in an ongoing Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuit regarding documents linked to conflicts of interest and selective enforcement in cryptocurrency cases.

It is worth noting amid the questions on SEC crypto regulation conduct, chair Gary Gensler has come under criticism for alleged favoritism. Pro-XRP lawyer John Deaton has consequently claimed that Gensler might be acting in the interest of others. Through his CryptoLaw platform, Deaton made the allegations on the grounds that Gensler has increasingly met with the Vanguard Group that manages his alleged $100 million wealth. 

Therefore, Deaton has questioned Gensler’s stand on regulating crypto to protect retail investors.

Meanwhile, with heat turning on and unsealing the Hinman documents, Deaton maintained that the contents of the speech would be made public eventually. Overall, the case outcome is projected to have an extensive impact on the cryptocurrency space, especially regulations. 

XRP price analysis

The sixth-ranked cryptocurrency by market cap is changing hands at $0.39 with daily losses of over 1%. On the weekly chart, XRP is down about 0.1%. 

Elsewhere, the token controls a market cap of about $19.8 billion. 

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