Many prominent figures have joined Stuart Alderoty in demanding a probe into the ex-Securities and Exchange Commission employee.
Ripple’s top lawyer has demanded an inquiry into the circumstances surrounding former SEC commissioner William Hinman’s controversial 2018 statement.
In a Twitter thread published on June 13 in response to the revelation of the Hinman papers, Stuart Alderoty called for an inquiry. According to the papers, Hinman gave his speech despite receiving warnings from various branches of the SEC.
In his 2018 talk, Hinman argued that Ether is not a security since it has become “sufficiently decentralized,” detailing the criteria that must be met to reach that conclusion.
Among the newly disclosed documents, Alderoty argued that Hinman had disregarded the advice of other SEC officials that “his speech contained made-up analysis with no basis in law,” and that this had resulted in mixed messages being sent to the cryptocurrency industry about what constitutes a security.
After Alderoty criticised the regulator on Twitter on June 13, Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse chimed in, calling the agency’s choice to go through with the speech despite “so much pushback” “unconscionable.”
John Deaton, a founder of the pro-XRP legal firm CryptoLaw, told Cointelegraph that he agrees an inquiry is necessary and that Hinman called it the “Ether Speech”, which raises suspicions about the speech’s motivations.
In discussing Hinman’s intentions, Deaton and Alderoty have alluded to rumours that he had connections to the Enterprise Ethereum Alliance, a lobbying group promoting adopting Ethereum blockchain technology.
Before and during his time at the SEC, Hinman practised law at Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLC, which actively participated in the Ethereum Enterprise Alliance.
Also Read: Although Gary Gensler doesn’t usually jump to conclusions, he now considers Bitcoin to be a security
