dailyhodl.com
An attorney who supports Ripple Labs in its XRP lawsuit with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) says traders will soon experience a fear of missing out (FOMO) once XRP hits $2.
Deaton law firm managing partner John Deaton hypothesizes that only when XRP does 5x will people want it.
Deaton is offering his theory on the heels of a federal judge ruling for the use of the so-called “Hinman speech” in the case.
In 2018, former SEC Director of Corporation Finance William Hinman gave a speech in which he said that Ethereum (ETH) was not a security.
Ripple has argued that the Hinman speech is evidence that the SEC has no basis for its claim that XRP is a security.
In May 2023, a federal judge ordered the SEC to release the emails, and Deaton says it could be a massive turning point for the case.
“Here’s what I can practically guarantee: if Hinman’s speech had been screened/cleared or approved by the SEC Ethics office we would have heard about it long ago. Being able to say the Ethics Chief cleared my speech would act as a proverbial get out of jail-free card.”
Last week, Deaton said that Ripple’s opposition cites an SEC email about there being reasonable grounds to not believe XRP satisfies all the factors of the Howey test.
Says Deaton about the email,
“The SEC wanted all statements by SEC staff redacted and it appears they all were. What this tells me is that the statement about XRP not satisfying Howey is NOT a direct quote from a senior SEC official – otherwise, it would be reacted.
I’ve concluded that that statement was made by a market participant independent of Ripple, not the SEC, but it was referenced by someone in the Hinman emails, or the 3rd party email was forwarded to Hinman or the email group discussing the speech.
I always want my comments to be based on facts, so I’m making this clarification. Although it isn’t a direct quote by an SEC official it is still damaging as hell because it demonstrates XRP was discussed. Someone at the SEC passed this XRP opinion to the email group for a reason.”