A recent verdict from the U.S. federal court has denied a request by the countrys securities watchdog to conceal its internal discourse that followed a notable address by former director William Hinman, marking this as a significant victory for Ripple and the broader digital currency sphere. In June 2018, William Hinman, who was then the director for the corporate finance division of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), declared during a speech that Ether (ETH), the principal currency of the Ethereum blockchain, does not qualify as a security.