Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse has blasted the enforcement approach of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) after the release of the Hinman docs, which contain internal discussions that the institution had before the now famous 2018 speech offered by former SEC Division of Corporation Finance Director William Hinman. Garlinghouse stated that while he was a public servant, Hinman “received millions of dollars of payments from his law firm,” part of an alliance with a vested interest in his speech.
Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse Blasts Former SEC Official William Hinman’s Actions
Brad Garlinghouse, CEO of cryptocurrency-focused company Ripple, recently released a video where he comments on and criticizes the content of the Hinman docs, a set of documents that show internal discussions of the agency before the speech given in 2018 by William Hinman, a former director of the Division of Corporation Finance of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).
According to Garlinghouse, the documents, which were finally unsealed after seven court orders and over a hundred million dollars in legal bills, show that “at best, senior officials couldn’t agree on the law, and told Bill Hinman directly he would confuse the public even more about the rules for crypto.” Garlinghouse considered that, at worst, these documents show Hinman “deliberately ignored the law,” stating that:
While he was a public servant, Hinman received millions of dollars of payments from his law firm, which was part of an alliance with others that had a vested interest in this speech.
Fake ‘Open Arms’ Policy
Ripple’s CEO accused the SEC of professing a fake “open arms and come in and register” policy. In his video statement, he explains that he met with former SEC Chair Jay Clayton and Hinman, answering all their questions and being fully open with the company’s operations. However, Garlinghouse detailed the SEC took advantage of this openness to turn it against the company.
Garlinghouse stated:
Not once did they suggest to me that xrp was a security.
Garlinghouse believes that the SEC is trying to “kill crypto innovation” in the U.S. by weaponizing the lack of regulatory clarity to exert jurisdiction over the entire crypto space, something he had mentioned before. Brian Armstrong, CEO of Coinbase, one of the largest U.S.-based cryptocurrency exchanges — also being sued by the SEC on charges of operating as an unregistered securities brokerage — has alerted about the dangers of driving the crypto industry outside the country and the possible costs of repatriating it in the future.
What do you think about the statements of Ripple’s CEO Brad Garlinghouse on the recently unsealed Hinman docs? Tell us in the comment section below.
