- Judge Analisa Torres has declined a motion by the commission to seal essential documents in the legal tussle.
- The price of the native XRP token has surged following the ruling.
A US judge presiding over the case between Ripple and the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has rejected a motion filed by the regulator to seal some of the essential documents.
Judge Analisa Torres of the US District Court has disagreed with SEC’s move to seal Hinman’s Speech documents, comprising emails, text messages, and expert reports, saying they were ‘judicial documents’ subject to a strong presumption of public access.
As a recap, the SEC is suing Ripple for selling unregistered securities. At the centre of the legal matter is a controversial speech by the former finance division director at the commission, William Hinman, who stated that Ether, the native cryptocurrency to the Ethereum blockchain, was not a security. The statement is believed to influence the much-awaited summary judgment considerably.
The SEC’s Position On The Matter
On December 22, the SEC filed a motion before Judge Torres to have all the documents containing Hinman’s speech sealed from the public, saying they were irrelevant to the court’s summary judgment. Further, the commission added that having the documents sealed preserved ‘openness and candour’, which the court has also rejected.
‘‘Regardless of whether the court ultimately determines that the Hinman Speech Documents are admissible, or whether the court relies on the documents in ruling on the summary judgment motions, they are judicial documents subject to a strong presumption of public access because they are ‘relevant to the performance of the judicial function and useful in the judicial process,'” read the ruling.
XRP has added more than 5% in the past 24 hours following the development and was trading at $0.4487 at the time of writing.
