(Kitco News) - Ripple Labs has just scored another victory in its ongoing court battle with the U.S. Securities Exchange Commission after the judge on the case overruled the regulator’s attempt to withhold documents relating to former Division Director William Hinman.
Judge Analisa Torres ruled in favor of Ripple for the release of documents it had been seeking regarding a speech given by the former Director of the SEC’s Division of Corporation Finance.
In Hinman’s speech, which was delivered at a summit in June 2018, the former Director made comments alluding to the fact that Bitcoin (BTC) and Ether (ETH) are not securities. The specific mention of Ether is a key point that Ripple is hoping to focus on in its defense against the SEC lawsuit.
The ruling from Judge Torres follows a pair of rulings by Magistrate Judge Sarah Netburn in February and April, in which Netburn ruled against the SEC and its attempts to withhold the documents Ripple was seeking.
Ripple has built its defense around the argument that if Ether was not considered a security at the time, then neither should XRP, especially since its acts more like a currency, in their perspective.
The case dates back to December 2020, when the SEC filed the suit against Ripple Labs and its former CEO Chris Larsen and current CEO Brad Garlinghouse. The lawsuit alleged that the company and its executives violated securities laws in 2013 when they conducted a funding round without first registering with the regulator.
The agency has long contended that Hinman’s remarks fall under deliberative process privilege (DPP), which protects certain internal agency information that has not been fully settled from disclosure during litigation.
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Recently, both Ripple Labs and the SEC have submitted requests for a summary judgment from Judge Torres, which is expected in the coming months. Many in the crypto ecosystem are highly interested in the outcome of the case, as the final ruling is expected to bring some clarity to how cryptocurrencies will be classified in the eyes of financial regulators.
Following the announcement of the ruling in favor of Ripple, the price of XRP spiked 15%, rapidly jumping from $0.44 to $0.51 before profit takers led to a pullback that settled around $0.483 at the time of writing.
