With further action surrounding the sealed documents thought to be essential in reaching the ultimate decision, the ongoing legal dispute between Ripple and the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has taken a new turn.
Updating for the ongoing lawsuit between Ripple and SEC
In particular, defense lawyer James Filan disclosed that media personality and senior Forbes writer Roslyn Layton had submitted a motion to obtain access to the closely held Hinman speech papers in a tweet on February 16.
Attorney J. Carl Cecere has filed a Motion for Admission Pro Hac Vice on behalf of Roslyn Laytonhttps://t.co/AtSHIUbOUf
— James K. Filan 🇺🇸🇮🇪 (@FilanLaw) February 15, 2023
Roslyn claimed in her petition that the First Amendment and Federal common law allow the press and public a fundamental and strong presumption to access court records. The petition claims that exercising this privilege ensures the court is held accountable.
Layton further accuses the SEC of inconsistent crypto regulation, noting out that the organization has yet to provide precise rules for the industry’s regulations. “That immense significance has translated into intense public scrutiny of Hinman’s speech, which, given the SEC’s refusal to provide explicit regulatory guidance on cryptocurrencies, constitutes the only instruction anyone within the SEC has offered crypto stakeholders to avoid the wrong end of an enforcement action”, Layton stated.
Carl Cecere, the proprietor of the law firm Cecere P.C., which specializes in Supreme Court and Appellate work, likewise approved the move. “We just filed this motion for leave to intervene in the SEC v. Ripple Case, which seeks billions in penalties from Ripple based on its cryptocurrency XRP, which the SEC claims are an unregistered security,” Cecere said.
Intriguingly, a Forbes piece by Layton that provided a critical analysis of the SEC’s alleged unjust handling of Ripple was mysteriously taken off the internet shortly after the motion was submitted.
👀It happened again.
Just after we have an intervention by Dr. @RoslynLayton – A Forbes’s article “WHY THE SEC TREATS @RIPPLE AND ETHEREUM DIFFERENTLY” was 👉removed in the last hour.
This is turning into a real dogfight. https://t.co/2G2SfCzu4v pic.twitter.com/4LeWkEDix6— 🌸Crypto Eri 220k+ Followers (Beware of Imposters) (@sentosumosaba) February 16, 2023
A key document in the Ripple case is the Hinman speech, which was given in June 2018 by William Hinman, the Division of Corporate Finance’s then-Director. It is thought to include the regulator’s view on whether or not to classify cryptocurrencies as securities.
The lawyers representing Ripple have requested throughout the hearing that the court order the SEC to make the records available for inspection. The business thinks that XRP might be classified as a non-security on the assumptions made in the Hinman speech that classified Bitcoin (BTC) and Ethereum (ETH) as non-securities.
“Public access would therefore be crucial in enabling the public to evaluate the strength of Ripple’s fair-notice defense—because if insiders within the SEC could not understand the speech’s guidance, others outside the agency could not hope to grasp it,” Layton added.
Importantly, the SEC charged the sale of XRP coins by Ripple with conducting unregistered security offers. It is important to note that some legal professionals have questioned the SEC’s classification of securities, which has led to speculation about the likely result. According to XRP holders’ attorney John Deaton, the agency may lose the summary judgment due to the vagueness in the definition of securities.
Deaton claimed that the information included in the records would eventually be made public in response to Layton’s most recent filing.
I was a big fan of @RoslynLayton before this and this confirms she is a true soldier 🆚 SEC overreach.
It’s also an example of what I meant when I said the Hinman emails will not lead to settlement b/c they eventually will be made public. Can’t put that Jeanie back in the bottle https://t.co/EflGz2t6n6
— John E Deaton (@JohnEDeaton1) February 16, 2023
SEC has also submitted requests to seal other documents about expert witnesses as the parties and the court await the final decision. The cryptocurrency players have criticized the proposal, and Ripple has responded with an opposing motion.
XRP/USD 4-hour chart | Source: TradingView
As of press time, the price of XRP has increased by more than 4% over the past 24 hours of trading, reaching $0.401. The token now has a $20.34 billion market cap.
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