XRP News: November 9 Deadline

Linda P. Jones, an author and investor, shared her views on the SEC v Ripple case and the likely outcome of a briefing schedule.

The investment expert responded to predictions of a settlement in the SEC v Ripple case, saying,

“I agree, however, I think Ripple has a royal flush, meaning they aren’t negotiating and can literally name their terms. Due to exposure to the Hinman emails, the SEC has zero bargaining power. Ripple can 100% name their terms in the settlement.”

Jones referenced an infamous William Hinman speech in 2018 and the associated Hinman speech-related documents. The documents include internal SEC communications that suggest Hinman met with Simpson Thacher despite the warnings of the SEC ethics team.

As background, William (Bill) Hinman was the former SEC Director of the Division of Corporation Finance. Hinman said that bitcoin (BTC) and ethereum (ETH) were not securities in 2018. While the speech may seem innocuous, Hinman’s former employer, Simpson Thacher, is part of a group that promotes Enterprise Ethereum. After leaving the SEC, Hinman returned to Simpson Thacher.

The Hinman speech and speech-related documents have been a focal point in the SEC v Ripple. Since filing charges against Ripple, the SEC has made at least six attempts to shield the documents under client-attorney privilege. However, the court denied the SEC attempts and ordered the SEC to hand the documents to the defendants under discovery.

At the time, the court ruling raised market expectations of a settlement. The SEC was eager to shield the documents from the public.

SEC and Ripple are likely in negotiations to settle before November 9. When dropping the charges against Brad Garlinghouse and Chris Larsen, the SEC also detailed intentions to progress toward a briefing schedule.

A briefing schedule would enable both parties to explore remedies to the charges against Ripple, these being Section 5 violations concerning its Institutional Sales of XRP. The SEC requested a deadline of November 9 before court involvement in brief schedules.