Ripple CEO Will Not Describe Hinman Emails as ‘Fraud’

The long awaited Hinman Emails were published today in what has generated a lot of reactions from experts and observers in the crypto ecosystem. Ripple CEO, Brad Garlinghouse is one of those that have shared his thoughts on the released documents noting that he will not necessarily tag them as ‘fraud’ as many in the industry might be pushed to.

Garlinghouse’s comment was in response to a tweet shared by media personality Charles Gasparino who noted that the knee jerk reaction from members of the XRP community is to tag the document and the basis for their design as fraud within the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Garlinghouse said he will not tag it as a fraud because he is not a lawyer and as such do not know the precise legal threshold surrounding the documents. He however, said that everyone can agree that the government is required to act with integrity.

I won't use the 'fraud' word (I'm not a lawyer and I don't know the precise legal threshold) but I think we can all agree that our government should act with integrity. The SEC – despite the industry asking for clarity – is actively approaching crypto in bad faith.

— Brad Garlinghouse (@bgarlinghouse) June 13, 2023

He made additional comments on the fact that the markets regulator has been approaching the crypto industry in bad faith despite the unending call for regulatory clarity. One of the exchanges the regulator sued recently, Coinbase Global Inc has even gone as far as suing the commission for failure to provide the clarity it has been calling on the regulator for for months.

Ripple vs SEC: Does Hinman Emails Make a Difference?

The Hinman Emails were finally released to the public after more than 5 court orders to compel the SEC to do so. While the discovery in the emails might be surprising to many, they will not make a difference in the ongoing case as Ripple’s counsel has been allowed access to the documents a while back.

The release of the document is just in the interest of freedom of information and transparency as the public interest in the ongoing legal brawl between the SEC and Ripple is very high.

With more understanding now in the hands of the XRP community, the outcome of the case is now more important than ever as the summary judgment on the suit is expected anytime from now. Prior to this point, experts who have been analyzing the merits of the arguments from both the SEC and Ripple have tipped the latter to come out largely victorious.