John Deaton, founder of Crypto Law, spoke to Thinking Crypto host Tony Edwards recently about the impact of the recently-released Hinman Documents on SEC’s case against Ripple executives Brad Garlinghouse and Chris Larsen.
According to Deaton, it now becomes impossible for the SEC to argue that Larsen and Garlinghouse were being reckless when they distributed the XRP assets, in response to the lawsuits charged in December 2020. He suggested that the relevent documents outline the atmosphere of confusion that prevailed among SEC officials– as highlighted in William Hinman’s 2018 speech— behind the scenes shall serve to debate the case when put in front of a jury.
With it becoming increasingly difficult for the SEC to win, Deaton heaped strong words upon them, giving off the impression that the two men were “singled-out” to communicate a message regarding stronger regulation among vulnerable crypto assets. He was joined in his sentiment by the prominent XRP community member Mr. Huber, who offered an estimation in line with Deaton’s conclusion.
