Ripple’s Chief Legal Officer, Stuart Alderoty, has demanded an investigation into the actions of a former Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) official, Bill Hinman, over his controversial speech on cryptocurrencies five years ago. This comes after the SEC filed a lawsuit against Ripple and made public the emails and drafts of Hinman’s speech, which allegedly demonstrate that Hinman ignored multiple warnings and created confusion in the market.

Ripple Demands Transparency

In his speech, Hinman stated that a token becomes “sufficiently decentralized” and is no longer a security. However, the SEC treated Hinman’s speech as guidance, with former SEC Chair Jay Clayton even citing it publicly. Despite the SEC changing its position on the significance of the speech in litigation, it remains on the agency’s website. According to senior SEC officials, Hinman ignored suggestions to link his factors to the Howey analysis and skipped over jurisdictional questions. Ripple’s CLO has called for the immediate removal of the speech from the SEC’s website and an inquiry into Hinman’s influences and conflicts of interest.

Ripple CEO Criticizes SEC’s Handling of Cryptocurrency Industry

Ripple’s CEO, Brad Garlinghouse, also criticized the SEC’s handling of the cryptocurrency industry, particularly its lawsuit against him and co-founder Chris Larsen for selling XRP as an unregistered security. Ripple denies the allegations, arguing that XRP is a digital currency. Garlinghouse accuses the SEC of creating confusion and uncertainty by using enforcement actions, and he calls for greater transparency from regulators.