XRP Drops 5% as Markets Digest Hinman Documents, SEC Court Case

There’s been no rest for Ripple or the XRP token this week. Following the latest development in Ripple’s court case with the SEC, XRP has plummeted 4.6% over the past 24 hours, according to CoinGecko. It’s now trading at $0.50, five cents lower than when the Hinman documents were finally released yesterday. Ripple has been in a legal battle with the SEC, since 2020, due to allegedly selling unregistered securities. A vital element of the case is a 2018 speech by former SEC Director Bill Hinman stating that Ethereum (ETH) shouldn’t be considered a security as it was “sufficiently decentralized.” Ripple claimed that this speech caused confusion when they were sued for selling an unregistered security. The lawsuit alleges that since 2013, Ripple has raised $1.3 billion in XRP, a token that the Commission claims qualify as a security. As part of the ongoing court battle, Ripple has sought the release of the so-called Hinman documents as part of its case, arguing that his claims may help to lift that label. Ripple also filed for emails surrounding the speech to be released to clarify how the former director came to his conclusion. While it is maintained the speech reflected Hinman’s personal opinions, the emails were released yesterday. XRP jumped almost 6% immediately after the release of these emails. However, sentiment soon changed as the chief legal officer at Ripple, Stuart Alderoty, claimed that Hinman “invented factors” and ignored multiple warnings that the speech contained “made-up analysis with no basis in law.” Alderoty then urged that the former SEC director is investigated after the speech is removed from the website. Hinman allegedly ignored internal concerns surrounding his speech and created “great confusion,” according to Alderoty. Unfortunately for XRP holders, that price jump from the email release has since all been wiped out.