by Rey Simmons 
The United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has been in the news lately due to its ongoing legal battle with Ripple, a cryptocurrency company. In a recent development, the SEC has requested to keep certain documents secret, including the Hinman Speech documents. The SEC claims that these documents are not relevant to the court’s summary judgment decision, and therefore should not be made public. However, many people in the cryptocurrency community disagree, and believe that the SEC is trying to hide something important from the public.
The Hinman Speech documents refer to a speech given by former SEC Corporation Finance Division Director William Hinman at the Yahoo Finance All Markets Summit in June 2018. In this speech, Hinman reportedly stated that Ether, the native token of the Ethereum blockchain, is not a security. This statement has been widely cited by those who argue that cryptocurrencies should not be subject to the same regulations as traditional securities.
Ripple, which is currently being sued by the SEC for allegedly selling unregistered securities, has argued that the Hinman Speech documents are critical to their case. They believe that the documents will show that the SEC was aware that some cryptocurrencies, such as Ether, were not securities at the time of Ripple’s alleged wrongdoing.
The SEC, however, claims that the Hinman Speech documents are not relevant to the case and should not be made public. They argue that their mission outweighs the “public’s right” to access these documents.
Many people in the cryptocurrency community disagree with the SEC’s stance. They believe that the SEC is trying to hide something from the public, and that the Hinman Speech documents could be critical to understanding the SEC’s stance on cryptocurrencies.
One key detail that the SEC has failed to acknowledge is that their definition of what constitutes a security in the cryptocurrency space has been vague and inconsistent. As a result, many cryptocurrency companies have been left unsure of what regulations they are subject to, which has hindered innovation and growth in the industry.
Furthermore, the SEC’s claim that the Hinman Speech documents are not relevant to the case seems questionable at best. The documents could provide important insight into the SEC’s thinking on the classification of cryptocurrencies, and whether they were aware that certain tokens were not securities at the time of Ripple’s alleged wrongdoing.
In the Hinman Speech documents, Hinman reportedly stated that “if the network on which the token or coin is to function is sufficiently decentralized—where purchasers would no longer reasonably expect a person or group to carry out essential managerial or entrepreneurial efforts—the assets may not represent an investment contract.”
This statement is significant because it suggests that some cryptocurrencies, such as Ether, may not be subject to the same regulations as traditional securities. By refusing to release these documents to the public, the SEC is preventing a full and open discussion of the issues at hand, which could have important implications for the future of the cryptocurrency industry.
