Brad Garlinghouse, the CEO of Ripple, finally breaks his silence on the debate revolving around the recently released Hinman emails. The CEO recently released a video reviewing the content of the unsealed papers on the scandalous June 2018 William Hinman speech.
Brad Garlinghouse made several statements against the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), noting that the regulatory body is hell-bent on frustrating crypto projects in the United States. In addition, he acknowledged the XRP community members’ continuous support throughout the court procedures.
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In the introductory part of the video, Garlinghouse noted, “A few days ago, after two years, seven court orders, and over $100 million in legal bills, the Hinman speech documents, including internal SEC emails and comments leading up to this now-infamous 2018 speech, they’ve finally been unsealed.” What other things could Garlinghouse be pointing out in the video? Find out.
Hinman Attempted To Circumvent Laid Down Laws
Garlinghouse maintained that the regulatory body seemed to create new factors that qualify an asset as security, which is evident in Hinman’s speech, where he stated that decentralized projects no longer pass as security assets.
Citing the released Hinman documents, Garlinghouse noted that most SEC officials never agreed with Hinman’s proposed laws, with warnings that the new factors would further complicate the prevailing confused state of the public. Despite the warnings, Hinman went ahead to make the public speech.
Garlinghouse lamented, “At worse, they (the documents) show that Hinman deliberately ignored the law. And he tried to create new laws, something only Congress can do. And 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 invested interest in this speech.”
In addition, Garlinghouse made mentioned a particular issue raised by other significant crypto players, which included Coinbase. This distinct issue revolves around Hinman’s speech which most pivotal players in the crypto industry deemed a relentless enforcement action against crypto industry leaders.
Trying something new – some thoughts from me on the events (specifically the release of the Hinman documents) of this week. For me, this has all had a personal bent to it – and felt like it warranted some personal comments. pic.twitter.com/k4dYeQGhsN
— Brad Garlinghouse (@bgarlinghouse) June 16, 2023
Read Also: Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse Defends XRP Against Securities Allegations, Slams Critics
Ripple Battled The SEC For Many Years In Search Of Clarity
Garlinghouse accused the SEC of being dishonest about their so-called guidance, even as the SEC’s enforcement actions persist. The CEO also disclosed how Ripple spent years battling with the SEC for clarity. Per Garlinghouse, he met with the then-SEC Chairperson, Jay Clayton, and Bill Hinman. Garlinghouse noted that the meeting had no lawyers in attendance because he believed they would undoubtedly come together in good faith.
Stressing further, Garlinghouse noted that Ripple answered every question the SEC threw at it, and the regulatory body never implied that XRP was a security. “We were fully transparent, not knowing they would then use this information against us,” Garlinghouse stressed.
In addition, The Ripple CEO noted that despite the several engagements between SEC and Ripple, the regulatory agency still chose to sue Ripple for breaking securities laws. “To those that have recently been hit with their own Wells notices and lawsuits, this likely sounds all too familiar,” the CEO added.
SEC’s Enforcement Actions May Be the End Of Crypto Innovations in the United States
Garlinghouse opined that SEC’s decision to sue him and Chris Larson, Ripple’s co-founder and Executive Chairman, was enough reason to conclude that the SEC might be taking the whole issue personally.
Per Garlinghouse, the SEC asserted that he and Larson should have known better about XRP being a security asset. However, the released Hinman docs have proven that the regulatory body seemed to be confused, which is detrimental to the entire crypto community.
Garlinghouse remarked: “The SEC is looking to kill crypto innovation in the United States, and its current Chair, an unelected bureaucrat, I might add, is weaponizing the lack of regulatory clarity to exert jurisdiction over the entire crypto space. This is the definition of putting politics over people.”
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Brad Garlinghouse Appreciates XRP Community
Brad Garlinghouse didn’t fail to appreciate the tremendous backing from the XRP community members even as the court case lingers. He noted that the SEC felt it could bully Ripple into conforming, but they had the resources to resist SEC’s attempt.
“Now we can all see what they fought so hard to hide: they knowingly create confusion about the rules, and they use that confusion to regulate through enforcement. That’s bad faith,” he added.
Finally, the Ripple CEO urged Coinbase and Binance to remain steadfast and continue to fight for clarity in their individual lawsuits with The SEC.
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