SEC Gives Bill Hinman a Gold Star: Ethereum Exoneration Part Deux 🎉

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Ah, the grand spectacle of bureaucracy! The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), akin to a somnolent beast stirring from its slumber, has unveiled a gleaming, albeit redacted, report exonerating the noble Bill Hinman—former maestro of Corporation Finance—from the grave charges of ethics violations. This literary opus follows a ruckus raised by the watchdog group Empower Oversight, armed with nothing but the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) and a thirst for juicy government secrets.

What exactly did our gallant Hinman do, you ask? Well, it seems he dared to declare in 2018 that Ether—yes, that digital pixie dust—is not a security. The Office of Inspector General (OIG), like an astute detective who has solved a sticky conundrum, proclaimed that good old Hinman did not stumble into the murky waters of internal ethics rules or foul federal conflict-of-interest laws, despite some eyebrow-raising financial ties to his former law firm. Fancy that! đŸ€”

As the report graces the world once more, whispers of ETH Gate waft through the air, a term critics have conjured to showcase what they believe to be favoritism and inconsistencies in the SEC’s whimsical approach to digital assets. Oh, how the plot thickens!

The Dueling Ethics Disclosures

Empower Oversight, with the bravado of a valiant knight, alleged that our dear Hinman maintained a little too close a relationship with Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP (STB), a law firm intertwined with the illustrious Enterprise Ethereum Alliance. Detractors scoffed at the notion that such ties could leave our hero’s impartiality a tad compromised when he waxed lyrical about Ethereum at Yahoo Finance’s All Markets Summit.

But lo and behold, the OIG report galloped in only two days post the US Senate’s official anointing of Paul Atkins as the tĂȘte-Ă -tĂȘte of the SEC. The report declared, “We found that at the time of his onboarding at the SEC, Bill Hinman disclosed his financial interest in STB
 and took the steps prescribed by SEC ethics officials.” Ah, the gall, the audacity! 😅

“He referred job seekers to his former comrades at STB! Preposterous!” they cried. But the OIG found it was not an ethics breach. Well, color me surprised!

The Ethereum Speech: A Tale of Pushback

With a magnifying glass, the report plumbed the depths of the Ethereum speech extravaganza, affirming that Hinman adhered to all the necessary hoops. Yet, skeptics frowned at the redacted portions, which concealed the SEC legal team’s objections—a delightful mystery worthy of a fine novel!

One can imagine the scene: Hinman, with email titled “ether speech,” casually initiating an internal kerfuffle. Despite the clamor from legal eagles, he charged ahead. “Collaboration, schmollaboration!” some critics sneered, deeming the process anything but shared.

However, the OIG entertained some amusing concerns raised by CryptoLaw & Co.: was Hinman’s stirring address to the ether a conflict of interest? The report quips:
“Even if true, the facts alleged do not amount to a conflict of interest on Hinman’s part.” Cheeky, if I do say so!

Public Hilarity and Continued Ethical Shenanigans

The world, in its unending curiosity, raised eyebrows. The OIG’s conclusions tossed fresh questions into the fray, questioning how on Earth conflicts of interest are conjured and enforced in federal corners. CryptoLaw chirped over on X, “The @SECGov OIG actually said that EVEN IF Hinman had a direct financial interest in ETH…” Oh, the irony! 🙃

Amidst the bubbling sea of discourse, the SEC plastered new guidelines about which assets sparkle under the securities spotlight and which do not, perhaps in hopes of clearing the fog. Meanwhile, journalist Eleanor Terrett raised a critical eyebrow, quipping,

“Is the OIG saying that if a person in a position of authority has a financial stake in something they blab about, it’s all sunshine and rainbows?”

Oh, the farce continues, with cries for transparency echoing like distant thunder. What a delightful chapter in our regulatory saga!

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2025-04-11 23:15