(2/8) Defendants argue that Hinman himself said his infamous "#ETH-is-not-a-security" speech was "newsworthy. And those watching and listening agreed. The price of ether skyrocketed immediately after the speech..."
(3/8)"Many have since described the speech as setting forth a new standard separate from, or additional to, Howey. Multiple currency exchanges decided to list #XRP after the speech, suggesting it gave comfort that offers and sales of XRP did not run afoul of the securities laws."
(4/8) "Mr. Hinman’s communications with the @ethereum Foundation, @Consensys, and other third parties are relevant and discoverable. This Court has ruled that the SEC’s statements to market participants about the regulatory status of cryptocurrencies..."
(5/8)"...including those “related to #BTC and #ETH,” are discoverable because they are “relevant to the Court’s eventual analysis with respect to the Howey factors” and “relevant to the fair notice defense that @Ripple is raising.”
(6/8) "Mr. Hinman has unique, first-hand factual knowledge of the circumstances under which he prepared and gave his speech and the @SEC_News' treatment of the speech after the fact."
(7/8) "His testimony is likely to yield important facts shedding light on whether and to what extent the @SEC_News authorized or approved it as a statement to the public about the agency’s current thinking on a complex, highly scrutinized regulatory topic."
(8/8) "Mr. Hinman was a direct participant in highly relevant conversations. He provides a critical window into the agency’s communications with important third parties about the regulatory status of cryptocurrencies."
• • •
Missing some Tweet in this thread? You can try to
force a refresh
"We need a regulatory framework that builds on this growth, not one that squanders it. Two regulatory actions in December indicate that Washington doesn’t understand that." (1/6) by @KiteVC via @MorningConsult morningconsult.com/opinions/crypt…
(2/6) "The @SEC_Enforcement sued @Ripple, the inventor of the #XRP token, claiming that the cryptocurrency was an unregistered security when they sold it. Many say the lawsuit reflects a failure to understand the nature of cryptocurrencies and the networks on which they operate."
(3/6) "The @USTreasury also proposed a set of rules for self-hosted wallets that U.S. cryptocurrency exchanges say could put them out of business. The backdrop of all of this is an $84T global economy struggling against negative growth, carrying $270T trillion in debt.."
(2/11) #XRPHolders "should be allowed to participate in this case. As independent holders, developers, and users of #XRP, with no relationship to Defendants, they have strong and distinct interests in the regulatory status of #XRP."
(3/11) @SEC_Enforcement cannot "represent the Movants or other participants in the existing, functioning #XRP market while seeking to destroy that market and frustrate the real purposes for which Movants hold #XRP."
Ripple asserts that the SEC has "disregarded" Netburn's discovery order and "ignored the Court's directive to meet and confer in good faith on the scope of production" of these documents.
"On 4/14 the SEC admitted that it had responsive documents, but told Defendants that it needed more time to consider its final position as to whether and what internal documents it would produce...."
"Regardless of the outcome of the @Ripple case, it is clear that the SEC, Clayton, and Hinman should not have hijacked the policy process by taking advantage of a vacuum of clear boundaries on how far agencies can stick their noses into these issues." (1/7)spectator.org/crypto-regulat…
(2/7) "This is especially important given what both Clayton and Hinman were doing before they came to the highest levels of the SEC and what they’ve been doing since they left public service."
(3/7) "Clayton works for One River Digital Asset Management, an investment hedge fund focused exclusively on the two cryptocurrencies he helped at the SEC — Bitcoin and Ether."
Berger's last big act before leaving the SEC was filing the Ripple lawsuit, which led to delisting/suspension of #XRP on exchange platforms and panic-selling by retail holders. (2/4) forkast.news/sec-ripple-law…
Simpson Thacher sits on the Ethereum Enterprise Alliance, took the biggest Chinese mining equipment company public, and paid William Hinman $1.6M/yr while he was SEC Dir of Corp Finance announcing that #ETH was not a security. (3/4) valuewalk.com/regulatory-fra…