In Response to Hinman Docs, Ripple CEO Slams SEC’s “Politically-Motivated Overreach”

Ripple CEO criticizes SEC’s William Hinman over the released emails, alleging lack of clarity and politically-motivated actions on token securities.

In a series of fiery tweets, Brad Garlinghouse, the CEO of Ripple, expressed his outrage at the recent release of emails and drafts of a speech by William Hinman, the former Head of the US SEC’s Corporation Finance division. 

The emails shed light on the behind-the-scenes discussions leading up to Hinman’s infamous speech in June 2018, which declared that a token is not a security once it becomes “sufficiently decentralized.” 

Garlinghouse accused the SEC of weaponizing the lack of regulatory clarity and suggested that the agency’s claims for companies to “just come in and register” were disingenuous.

It’s absolutely unconscionable that a regulator – when presented with so much pushback on what he was about to say / how he compiled this fake “test” in the first place – decided to move forward anyway, and throw an entire industry into chaos. https://t.co/9qzKOiPWsA

— Brad Garlinghouse (@bgarlinghouse) June 13, 2023

Garlinghouse’s tweets were prompted by Stuart Alderoty, Ripple’s Chief Legal Officer (CLO), who shared the newly released emails, as reported by The Crypto Basic, criticizing the SEC for proceeding with a speech he claims contained a “made-up analysis.”

The emails reveal that senior SEC officials raised concerns about Hinman’s speech, warning that it could lead to “greater confusion” regarding the definition of security. 

1/ It’s been 5 years since Bill Hinman gave his infamous speech – and through the SEC’s lawsuit against @Ripple (and 7 court orders), we can finally share what happened behind the scenes through the now public emails / drafts of the speech. pic.twitter.com/sx2TpW0TYe

— Stuart Alderoty (@s_alderoty) June 13, 2023

Internal Conclusion with the SEC

According to Alderoty, the SEC officials urged Hinman to align his newly invented factors with the traditional Howey analysis. However, Hinman allegedly ignored these suggestions, including legally irrelevant factors and the omission of critical questions related to jurisdiction and regulatory standards.

Furthermore, the emails disclosed that Hinman initially planned to discuss Ethereum (ETH) directly in his speech, claiming no need to regulate it as a security. However, the Office of General Counsel expressed reservations about including such a statement, as it could hinder the SEC’s ability to take a different position on ETH. 

Despite these concerns, Hinman mentioned ETH as an example in his speech.

Ripple CEO Calls SEC’s Actions Political 

In response to these revelations, Garlinghouse expressed his dismay at the SEC’s actions, calling them “deplorable” and “politically-motivated overreach.” 

He criticized the regulator for suing him and Ripple’s co-founder, Chris Larsen, for allegedly selling unregistered securities while the SEC’s own Division Head, Hinman, had created confusion through his speech. 

On the other hand, the Ripple CLO concluded his tweets by demanding the immediate removal of Hinman’s speech from the SEC’s website and calling for an investigation into the factors that influenced Hinman’s decision-making process. 

Alderoty argued that Hinman’s speech should never again be invoked in any serious discussion about whether a token is a security.