XRP Army Outrages Over Joseph Lubin’s Involvement in Hinman Speech

• Newly released documents show Joseph Lubin brought William Hinam and Vitalik Buterin together before the SEC director’s speech in 2018.
• Outrage sparked within the XRP community with some stating that the Hinman speech was actually “The Ether Speech”.

In the latest controversial revelation, oversight watchdog group Empower Oversight released a new batch of documents for a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request. The documents highlight the deeper involvement of Ethereum co-founder Joseph Lubin and his blockchain firm ConsenSys in the crypto speech by former SEC Director of Corporation Finance, William Hinman, on June 14, 2018.

This speech has been a source of disagreement in the Ripple case, particularly because the SEC has stated that other cryptocurrencies, like XRP, were also considered unregistered securities. Ripple attorneys stressed much on the Hinman speech of 2018 during its fight with the SEC, as it noted that assets like Ethereum aren’t securities. However, the latest details of Lubin’s involvement have sparked major outrage in the XRP community.

The documents released by the watchdog group reveal that “Lubin also appears to have been responsible for bringing Hinman and Ethereum creator Vitalik Buterin together as the speech drafting advanced”. Moreover, investors and lawyers closely linked to Ethereum were notably present at a meeting on March 28, 2018, regarding a proposal for a crypto safe harbor.

4. Lubin also apparently brought Hinman and Ethereum creator Vitalik Buterin together as the speech was drafted.https://t.co/e1l1q4posg

— Empower Oversight (@EMPOWR_us) August 3, 2023

The documents also show that Hinman had a meeting with Chris Lin, a partner at Simpson Thacher, which goes against advice on conflicts of interest rules. The SEC Ethics Office had warned Hinman multiple times because he was receiving millions of dollars from Simpson Thacher while working at the SEC.

Empower Oversight has been leading the fight for more transparency at the SEC. They have filed many requests and lawsuits under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) to make the SEC release documents related to their decisions about cryptocurrency matters.

Outraged XRP Community Reacts

The news has sparked reactions among XRP supporters. In a tweet yesterday, Crypto-Law.US pointed out that the newly disclosed emails show how Lubin influenced Hinman’s decision to title his speech “The Ether Speech.”

JUST ADDED to our Document Library:
✅The Hinman-Lubin Emails, detailing how @ethereumJoseph and @Consensys initiated contact with Hinman & his staff, and drove Hinman’s thinking on what he would later call “the Ether speech” 👇https://t.co/DJRcWUZb41

— CryptoLaw (@CryptoLawUS) August 3, 2023

As a response, Attorney John Deaton, the founder of Crypto-Law.US, shared how Hinman lied during his deposition in the Ripple lawsuit. Hinman had claimed that he never discussed the content of his speech with anyone outside the SEC before June 14. However, the Hinman documents revealed that he had a meeting with Buterin a week before his speech on cryptocurrencies.

Fred Rispoli, a lawyer at HODLaw, praised the efforts of Empower Oversight, tweeting, “Great job Empower Oversight. SEC never expected these documents to be made public…”

Similarly, Digital Asset Investor.XRP also questioned the double standards noting: “Why was Bill Hinman doing backflips to accommodate Joseph Lubin and Vitalik Buterin while at the same time giving Brad Garlinghouse the run-around with the help of Jay Clayton and even coming back to the SEC after he left to make sure the Ripple lawsuit went through?”

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