Ripple gains upper hand in SEC legal battle with Supreme Court ruling.

The ongoing case of the SEC v Ripple Labs could have a significant impact on the future of cryptocurrency regulations. Ripple argued that XRP does not satisfy the Howey test, which is used to determine whether an investment contract exists. The “Hinman documents” refer to a 2018 speech given by former SEC Director William Hinman and documents associated with writing it. The court ruled that the Hinman documents are “judicial documents” subject to a strong presumption of public access and denied the SEC’s motion to seal. The documents could negatively affect the public image of the SEC and may provide additional details around Hinman's conflict of interest. The decision could come down at any time, but it could take another month or longer.