Former SEC Officer Will Testify in Ripple Trial – Bits Media

Ripple leverages statements from former SEC corporate finance director William Hinman, that ETH is not a security. This is how the company wants to prove to the court, that this also applies to XRP.

Last year, the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) accused Ripple and its leaders in conducting ICO for the amount $1.3 billion and violation of US securities laws. The score is still continuing. Ripple intends to convince the court of, that the SEC claims against the company are unreasonable and unfair.

For this, the company is going to use the statements of the former SEC employee William Hinman (William Hinman). IN 2018 He said a year, that the ether is quite decentralized, Therefore, it cannot be a security or investment contract, implying profit from the actions of the project management. Ripple thinks, that XRP should be treated the same, as to bitcoin and ether. In other words, XRP coins should not be classified as securities, And the company must be exempt from registration in SEC.

However, after this statement, Khinman himself fell under the close attention of the regulator. According to the media, Working in SEC, Hinman received payment in the amount $1.6 Milln from its Law Firm Simpson Thatcher, to which he returned to 2018 year. The company is a member of the Enterprise Ethereum Alliance Board, exploring the corporate use of the Ethereum. SEC claims, that Khinman expressed his personal opinion, but did not speak on behalf of the department. At the same time, the commission recognized, that her employees helped him compose the text of the speech. Nonetheless, SEC filed a petition to the court to cancel Hinman's testimony.

Judge of the District Court of the Southern District of New York Sarah Neburn (Sarah Netburn) Rejected the regulator's application. Hinman must be present at the testimony. This can be considered a small victory of Ripple in the battle with the SEC. However, the outcome of the "war" has not yet been defined.

Previously, Ripple Director General Brad Garlinghaus (Brad Garlinghouse) said, what if Ripple loses the case, The company may abandon the XRP and replace it with another crypto actual. Besides, Ripple plans to go to the stock exchange after the end of the lawsuit with the SEC.