Former SEC Director William Hinman remained a focal point. In 2018, Hinman said BTC and ETH are not securities. Empower Oversight filed charges against the SEC in 2021, alleging former SEC officials were biased against Ripple Labs and XRP. The government watchdog claimed former employer Simpson Thacher paid Hinman millions (USD) while working at the SEC.

After leaving the SEC, Hinman returned to Simpson Thacher and became an adviser at Andreessen Horowitz.

• Simpson Thacher is part of a group that promotes Enterprise Ethereum.
• Andreessen Horowitz: Hedge fund advocating Hinman statements on the classification of ETH.

Court documents from the SEC v Ripple case substantiate the allegations. Hinman speech-related documents revealed Hinman continued meeting with Simpson Thacher despite warnings from the SEC Ethics Division.

Since filing the charges against Ripple, the SEC has failed to shield the Hinman speech-related documents under attorney-client privilege on at least six attempts.

The increasing scrutiny of SEC officials and linkages with pro-BTC and ETH crypto firms will raise eyebrows.

Office of Inspector General Investigation in the Spotlight

The Office of Inspector General (OIG) is investigating reports of crypto conflicts of interest within the SEC. Empower Oversight provided the OIG with evidence of financial conflicts of interest in May 2022.

Findings of financial conflicts of interest could further pressure the SEC to end plans to appeal the Programmatic Sales ruling.

SEC plans to appeal against the Programmatic Sales ruling remain an XRP headwind.

The OIG could release its findings at any time, which could incentivize US lawmakers to address SEC oversight of the US crypto market.

XRP Price Action