Well-known cryptocurrency market attorney and legal expert John Deaton recently indicated that a breach of ethics could mean victory for Ripple.
New Documents Could Mean Victory for Ripple
Deaton pointed to documents uncovered by an anti-corruption watchdog Empower Oversight. These documents highlight the involvement of William Hinman, the SEC’s former director of corporate finance. Hinman had indicated in a 2018 speech that Ethereum (ETH) is not a security.
Related articles
According to Empower Oversight, emails suggest that Hinman knowingly had a conflict of interest in delivering the speech before it was delivered. Deaton indicated that this would mark the end of the SEC’s lawsuit against Ripple. The lawsuit was filed by the SEC in December 2020 over allegations that XRP was issued as an unregistered security.
He said the following:
“If Hinman hasn’t submitted the speech to a conflict screening, it’s game, set and match. The Ethics Office will be angry and want to throw him under the bus if we force this investigation through letters from Congress.”
According to an Empower Oversight statement, Hinman had ties to Simpson Thacher. Simon Thacher is a law firm that promoted Ethereum, while the speech was being delivered. Hinman also rejoined the law firm shortly after the lawsuit was filed. The group also said the SEC’s Ethics Office warned Hinman to withdraw from the case.
It indicated the following:
“[Our] FOIA request shows the SEC’s Ethics Office Mr. Hinman that he had a direct financial interest in his former law firm, Simpson Thacher, and thus should refrain from any business that could affect the firm; and, in order not to misunderstand his position, the Ethics Office has specifically told him not to have any contact with Simpson Thacher personnel.”
Empower Oversight said that Hinman had not disclosed his ties to the law firm. Also that his comments helped drive the price of Ethereum up at the time of the speech. All of this could mean victory for Ripple.
It said the following about this:
“The data and other information disclosed to Empower Oversight shows that Mr. Hinman has not disclosed Simpson Thacher’s direct financial interest in the Enterprise Ethereum Alliance…
In his speech, he opined that Ether is not a security and stated that “based on my understanding of the current state of Ether, the Ethereum network and its decentralized structure, current offers and sales of Ether are not securities transactions.” The value of Ether rose immediately after Mr. Hinman’s speech.”
Bitcoin 
Ethereum 
Tether 
Cardano 
TRON 
Litecoin 
Stellar 
Bitcoin Cash 
Dash 