More shocking revelations were revealed about Hinman.
Eleanor Terrett, a Fox Business journalist, recently shared interesting details about SEC’s former director of Corporate Finance, William Hinman’s involvement in the Ripple lawsuit.
The Fox Business journalist, commenting on the lawsuit, said one of her sources revealed that Hinman was instrumental in the SEC’s push for a lawsuit.
According to Terret, when Ripple was initially alleged to have violated U.S. securities laws, Jay Clayton, the former SEC chair, had wanted a settlement between the blockchain company and the agency. However, Hinman would not have any of it, as he pushed the SEC to file a lawsuit against Ripple for allegedly violating U.S. securities laws via its 2013 Initial Coin Offering (ICO).
Terret made this known in an interview with famous cryptocurrency YouTuber BitBoy Crypto.
“I heard that when the Ripple case was brought in December 2020, Jay Clayton had been in favor of settling [with Ripple] pretty much right off the bat, but Bill Hinman had been driving home saying no we have to continue with this case. I heard Clayton was in favor of settling, Hinman was not,” Terret was quoted as saying.
???Game. Set. Match. Why would Hinman be so determined that @ripple be sued that he came back to the SEC to make sure it went through?? THIS IS THE ?????? @JohnEDeaton1 @bgarlinghouse @s_alderoty @EleanorTerrett @CGasparino @Bitboy_Crypto
Congress? When investigation? pic.twitter.com/Jsabn7d5hr— Digital Asset Investor (@digitalassetbuy) September 29, 2022
Ripple vs. SEC Lawsuit
It is worth noting that the SEC had been considering charging Ripple for allegedly offering unregistered securities in the U.S months before the lawsuit was announced.
However, the Securities and Exchange Commission officially charged Ripple and two company executives on December 22, 2020.
Hinman’s Previous Controversies
It may not surprise many that Hinman was the SEC staff who pushed for a lawsuit against Ripple instead of a settlement. Hinman has been accused of having an interest in Ethereum during his time at the Securities and Exchange Commission. Before joining the SEC, Hinman was a partner of Simpson Thacher & Bartlett, a member of the Enterprise Ethereum Alliance (EEA). Hinman violated SEC laws by still meeting with Simpson Thacher staff while at the SEC. Many alleged that these meetings resulted in the 2018 controversial speech, where Hinman declared Ethereum a non-security.
On December 4, 2020, the SEC announced Hinman’s departure from the agency. He was later paid over $9 million in profit and retirement earnings by Simpson Thacher months after he left the SEC.
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