A small footnote in a Ripple legal document that John Deaton discovered confirms that XRP was discussed among SEC employees before the Hinman speech. This could be important because internal arguments among SEC officials about whether XRP counts as a security could make a difference in the outcome of the ongoing legal battle between the SEC and Ripple. According to the footnote, there are good reasons to believe that XRP does not fully satisfy the criteria set forth in the Howey Analysis and is not, therefore, a “security” for the purposes of the federal securities laws. As the third-largest cryptocurrency asset after Bitcoin and Ethereum, Deaton claimed that XRP was discussed by the SEC on an internal level.
A few SEC employees may have thought XRP should be treated the same as Bitcoin and Ethereum, he suggested, despite the fact that the SEC declined to comment publicly. On June 13, when the Hinman materials are most likely to be released, Deaton advised the neighbourhood to be vigilant.
