William Hinman said that bitcoin (BTC) and ETH were not securities in 2018. The contentious issue with the speech was Hinman’s connection with Simpson Thacher, his 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-related documents revealed that Hinman continued meeting with Simpson Thacher despite warnings from the SEC Ethics Division.
An ongoing investigation into alleged crypto conflicts of interest within the SEC could scupper SEC plans to appeal against the Programmatic Sales of XRP ruling.
Office of Inspector General Investigation into SEC Conflicts of Interest
In February, US government watchdog Empower Oversight announced that the Office of Inspector General was in the final stages of investigating alleged crypto conflicts of interest within the SEC.
The crypto conflicts of interest relate to William Hinman and his relationship with Simpson Thacher. Empower Oversight filed a lawsuit against the SEC in 2021, claiming Hinman received millions of dollars from Simpson Thacher while working at the SEC.
The SEC may face intense lawmaker scrutiny if the investigation finds evidence of crypto conflicts of interest. Significantly, the SEC could end plans to appeal against the Programmatic Sales ruling to avoid retribution.
In January, the SEC filed a Motion to Dismiss its charges against Debt Box. The Motion to Dismiss was in response to a court order asking the SEC to show why the court should not sanction it for making false and misleading representations to the court. In March, Judge Robert Shelby denied the SEC Motion to Dismiss the charges against Debt Box.
An end to SEC plans to appeal against the Programmatic Sales of XRP ruling could be a boon for XRP.
