The SEC mysteriously deleted Hinman’s biography from its website prior to the imminent court order to disclose unedited emails from Hinman’s communications.
The US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) deleted former commissioner William Hinman’s resume from its website eight days before the court required the financial watchdog to provide unedited copies of all of Hinman’s emails in its case against Ripple Labs.
Prior to now, the SEC’s Web site contained important information about Hinman’s employment history, roles, and advisory contributions to the committee. However, the updated resume now only provides his name, photo, and previous position as Division Director of the company’s finance unit from May 2017 to December 2020.
According to Twitter user Huber, who spoke about Hinman’s revised biography on the social media platform, the SEC may be planning to throw him under the bus.
the @employee He has now removed Bill Hinman’s biography from his website. He prepares to throw him under the bus. pic.twitter.com/O7HCUGWSgt
– Mr. Hubert (Leerzeit) June 5, 2023
Henman’s speech could be a decisive factor in the Ripple vs SEC case
Hinman’s exit from the SEC in 2020 coincided with the committee’s lawsuit against Ripple Labs. The former SEC director left the agency the same month he sued Ripple for violating federal security rules by selling an unregistered XRP token.
Hinman gained attention for his introduction of the letter In 2018 stating that Bitcoin (BTC) and Ethereum (ETH) are not securities and should not be classified as such. However, it failed to address the legal status of XRP, which is distributed similarly to Ether.
With no legal designation for XRP, Ripple and other SEC critics have long sought internal transcripts and debates over the letter to ascertain whether ETH received preferential treatment over XRP.
Last year, the financial firm succeeded in obtaining documents from Hinman’s letter, although their contents were kept secret at the time.
Most recently, the court mandated the SEC to produce all of Hinman’s emails and drafts of his 2018 letter. Judge Annalisa Torres ruled in May that the SEC and Ripple must disclose Hinman’s emails and other summary judgment materials on the 13th. June 2023.
Crypto enthusiasts believe that email could be a powerful gun in the ongoing court battle between the regulator and Ripple.
Meanwhile, the Ripple vs SEC case has greatly impacted the cryptocurrency industry in the United States, which is seeking clarity and legal precedent regarding the classification of virtual assets as securities in the United States.
Both sides filed summary judgment in December 2022, raising hopes that an outcome could be close.
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