SEC seeks to keep Hinman documents hidden in Ripple case

The United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has requested to seal the infamous Hinman Speech documents, claiming that they are not relevant to the court’s summary judgment decision.

The Motion to Seal Summary Judgment Document was filed by the SEC on Dec. 22, requesting the sealing of various information and documents, most notably the Hinman Speech documents.

The Hinman Speech documents refer to the speech given by former SEC Corporation Finance Division Director William Hinman at the Yahoo Finance All Markets Summit in June 2018, where he reportedly stated that Ether (ETH), the native token of the Ethereum blockchain, is not a security.

Ripple believes it is a vital piece of evidence to help them with its case against the U.S. regulator.

In its latest motion, the SEC said its mission outweighs the “public’s right” to access documents that have “no relevance” to the Court’s summary judgment decision.

It also requested that any references to the Hinman Speech Documents be “redacted” from the papers of the defendants.

The SEC’s request has sparked criticism from the crypto community, with one user suggesting that the SEC chairman Gary Gensler has a hidden agenda:

Anyone else wonder what Gary Gensler and the SEC are hiding?

The document also requested to seal information relating to the SEC’s expert witnesses and XRP investors that submitted declarations, as well as internal SEC documents reflecting debate and deliberation by SEC officials.

No surprise the SEC wants to keep the Hinman emails/docs redacted. At this point, given J. Torres' rulings to date (including her position that the emails are likely only relevant for impeachment), I predict she probably rules to keep them redacted. Sad, but not unreasonable.

It comes only weeks after Ripple Labs filed its final submission against SEC on Dec. 2, meaning the two-year legal battle may soon come to an end. 

Related: SEC can’t confirm if video of Bill Hinman is actually Bill Hinman in Ripple case

Ripple had confirmed on Oct. 21 that it had access to the Hinman Speech Documents after 18 months and six court orders, though the documents still remained confidential at the SEC’s insistence.

The SEC was previously denied by the courts to keep Hinman documents a secret, with the U.S. judge calling out the SEC’s hypocrisy for doing so.