The US SEC Inspector’s Office (IOG) has released an investigation report on the allegations against former high-end employee Bill Hinman.
Empower monitoring of whistleblowing companies (Empower) Confirmed Receipt of a 10-page document after years of asking. The report highlighted the findings of the Watchdog Group’s accusations against Bill Hinman, former US SEC director of corporate finance.
For context, he accused him of using his position to promote his personal interest and promoting that of his previous employer, a violation of the ethics and conduct of the US SEC. However, the IOG report noted that the allegations did not retain water.
Case origin
Hinman joined the US SEC in May 2017 after working for 16 years at the renowned US law firm Simpson Sacher & Bartlett (STB). In particular, STB was part of the Enterprise Etherium Alliance, a coalition of companies focused on promoting smart contract networks.
The controversy broke out after Hinman’s famous 2018 speech in an interview with Yahoo Mail.
Empower has found the statement contradicts the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). Ripples Request for Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) for August 2021.
The whistleblower highlighted the possible conflict of interest over the speech and accused Hinman of denialing his former employee of promoting the Ethereum network. It further alleged that the statement provided personal benefits for the SEC director and sought access to the communication records between Hinman and the STB.
Empower reacts as the US SEC acquits Hinman
A few years after the legal process began, the SEC finally released details of the investigation on April 10th. A report dated December 9, 2024 found that the Empower allegations were not true. For context, the report noted that Hinman did not violate the Criminal Conflict of Interest Act.
Excerpt from the 10-page IOG report
He further emphasized that the director’s Ethereum speech had no direct impact on his financial position as there was no cryptocurrency according to his 2021 asset proof. Additionally, he complied with ethics rules and adjusted his retirement pension to a fixed interest rate at the STB during onboarding with the SEC.
Additionally, the SEC said it had prepared this speech on Yahoo Mail in accordance with the SEC Ethics Rules. This meant that he drafted the speech with a team of executives rather than alone. Therefore, they were not his personal thoughts.
However, Empower criticizes the report and claims its scope is limited. Jason Foster, founder of whistleblower; I insisted The IOG failed to clarify whether Hinman committed a crime in his previous contact with the company, despite assuming a sensitive role in the US SEC.
We finally got our crypto dispute report from Inspector @secgov, focusing on William Hinman.
The narrow question of whether he committed a crime is the high bar that OIG did not clarify as expected.
Bigger ether/XRP selective enforcement/dispute controversy? White wash. https://t.co/1vna3lsjbx pic.twitter.com/df18bl2rgl
– Jason Foster (@jsnfostr) April 11, 2025
Interestingly, Foster accused the committee of failing to address the issue of selective enforcement and several industry accusing SEC officials of being involved.
Especially XRP enthusiasts stress This point of passionate discussion with Cardano founder Charles Hoskinson. They accused the former Ethereum co-founder and his team of playing the role, highlighting the elective lawsuit. SEC lawsuit For Ripple in 2020.
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