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Rippleās defense of the ongoing lawsuit against it by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has received a slight boost.
Sarah Netburn, U.S. District Court Judge, has turned down SECās motion to cancel the deposition of William Hinman, former director of SECās Division of Corporate Finance.
Hinman stated sometime in 2018 that the offer and sale of Ether is not a securities transaction, based on his understanding of the decentralized structure and the Ethereum (ETH/USD) network.
However, Ripple has pointed to his deposition to back its claim that the XRP/USD token is not a security. If the SEC doesnāt appeal against the courtās decision, Ripple may be asked to question Hinman about his judgment on Ether. The idea is to apply the same judgment to XRP.
Ripple wants to justify XRP through the deposition
Ripple has always maintained that the SEC doesnāt have any basis to take XRP as security since the token is a medium of exchange used for both domestic and international transactions.
The SEC initially fought the subpoena, arguing that Rippleās questioning may set a negative example where high-level government officials will be subjected to depositions concerning every policy, regulation, or law. The SEC added that it will be forced to invoke the āExemption 5ā (the deliberative process privilege) if Hinman is deposed.
Judge denies SECās earlier appeal
The watchdog also stated that it speaks through enforcement actions and doesnāt base its actions on the opinion of its staff or individual commissioners. As a result, any statement credited to Hinman is regarded as ādeliberativeā.
However, Judge Netburn stated that the issue is not a ārun-of-the-mill SEC enforcement caseā and his deposition will not act as a reference to other similar cases in the future.
She added that the case will need vital policy decisions to conclude and its conclusion has a direct impact on the market and the general public. The judge stated that such importance supersedes whatever implication the deposition will bring in the future.
The post Judge clears Ripple to question former SEC official over XRP case appeared first on Invezz.
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