The latest development in the XRP lawsuit is that the court has approved the application for sealing in both Slack and Deliberative Process and other privileges (DPP) disputes. Though both parties are fighting over stamps in their respective discovery disputes, Ripple may have been tired of the burning of reconciliation.
It can be speculated that Ripple has reached an agreement with the SEC to obtain protection, and the committee will initiate further proceedings against other unprecedented crypto projects.
The arguments of the SEC in the DPP dispute
Since filing the Mandatory Disclosure Request, the SEC has decided to hide the DPP dispute documents. The plaintiff argued that it opposed the discovery of DPP-protected internal and inter-agency documents, stating that they “aim to improve agency decision-making by maintaining and promoting open discussions between officials”. It worked hard to prove that Ripple’s data discovery request had nothing to do with any claims or lawsuit defenses.
However, the SEC believes it is impossible to completely deny the motion to force the discovery of DPP data. Thereafter, contradicting the individual defendant’s motion and questioning the SEC’s inadmissible claims against DPP, the SEC also filed a motion to have the exhibits sealed. The sealed exhibit contains part of Hinman’s testimony, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission believes the seal is intended to protect the identity of third parties and sensitive legal and business information.
Hinman and the SEC’s Secrets are Confidential
Recently, a large amount of information was published in a viral article, presumably using a seal to protect Hinman’s hidden agenda from public scrutiny. The allegation said that Hinman’s comments on ETH were carefully planned in his 2018 speech, and that was a factor in the 600% increase in Ether price so far.
Allegedly, this data contains evidence accusing Hinman of planning a price hike and then negotiating with prominent Ethereum Foundation officials and private market participants to invest generously in ETH ahead of the speech. Additionally, the sealed document also highlights the names of the SEC that they know and/or were involved in processing the speech, including market participants who have significant resources or financial interests in Ether.