Fintech firm Ripple has won another battle in its drawn-out war with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. The result has been a good one for XRP holders.
On May 16, the judge presiding over the Ripple vs. SEC case denied a motion filed by the securities regulator.
Judge Torres denied the motion to seal the entirety of the documents regarding a June 2018 speech by former SEC director William Hinman.
Ripple Wins Another Small Victory
The Hinman documents are “judicial documents subject to strong presumption of public access,” she said.
Judge Torres ordered the clerk to unseal all the exhibits covered in her order. These included other documents related to Ripple’s sales of XRP and other matters under motions to seal, reported CryptoLaw on May 17.
The filing stated that:
“Regardless of whether the Court ultimately determines that the Hinman Speech Documents are admissible, or whether the Court relies on the documents in ruling on the summary judgment motions, they are judicial documents subject to a strong presumption of public access because they are ‘relevant to the performance of the judicial function and useful in the judicial process’”
Furthermore, it added that sealing these documents would not be related to preserving “openness and candor” within the agency.
The SEC filed the motion in December to seal the internal emails, text messages, and expert reports that followed Hinman’s speech. However, Judge Analisa Torres ruled that these documents were “judicial documents” and should be included.
On May 17, Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse labeled it as “another win for transparency!”
William Hinman famously said in June 2018 that, according to his understanding, “current offers and sales of Ether are not securities transactions.” Ripple has been using the argument in their fight against the SEC, which has accused the firm of selling unregistered securities.
The SEC has been trying its hardest to hide these crucial related documents and speeches from the public during the case.
Garlinghouse expects a verdict to be reached by this summer. A win for Ripple will be a huge moment for the wider crypto industry and a blow to the overregulating SEC.
XRP Prices React
XRP prices have surged almost 8% over the past 12 hours. As a result, the Ripple cross-border coin was trading at $0.457 at the time of writing.
XRP has returned to resistance around the $0.460 level, where it was trading at the beginning of May. It reached a local peak at just below $0.55 at the end of March but failed to sustain momentum.
XRP is currently down 86.5% from its January 2018 all-time high of $3.40.
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