Alderoty of Ripple urges investigation into Hinman’s controversial speech.

The chief legal officer of Ripple, Stuart Alderoty, has demanded an investigation into the reasons behind former Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) official William Hinman delivering his controversial speech in 2018. The demand came after the release of documents revealing that Hinman gave the speech despite warnings from other SEC divisions. Alderoty believes that an investigation is necessary to determine what or who influenced Hinman, why conflicts were ignored, and why the SEC promoted the speech knowing that it would cause “greater confusion”. In the speech, Hinman stated that Ether (ETH) is not a security due to it becoming “sufficiently decentralized”. Alderoty argued that Hinman’s speech sent confusing messages to the cryptocurrency industry regarding what defines a security, and that it contained made-up analysis with no basis in law. Alderoty and Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse criticized the SEC for moving forward with the speech despite pushback, with Garlinghouse calling it “unconscionable”. Pro-XRP lawyer and CryptoLaw founder John Deaton also believes that an investigation is warranted, questioning Hinman’s motivations and alleged ties to the Enterprise Ethereum Alliance, an organization promoting Ethereum blockchain technology.