The US SEC’s Office of Inspector General (IOG) has released an investigation report over allegations against former high-ranking employee Bill Hinman.
Whistle-blowing firm Empower Oversight (EMPOWER) confirmed the receipt of the ten-page document after years of asking. The report highlighted the findings on the watchdog group’s accusations against Bill Hinman, the former US SEC’s Corporation Finance Director.
For context, EMPOWER accused Hinman of using his position to promote his personal interest and that of his former employer, a breach of the US SEC’s ethics and conduct. However, the IOG’s report noted that the allegations did not hold water.
Case Etymology
Hinman joined the US SEC in May 2017 after a 16-year stint at the prominent US white-shoe law firm Simpson Thacher & Bartlett (STB). Notably, STB was part of the Enterprise Ethereum Alliance, a coalition of firms focused on promoting the smart contract network.
Controversy erupted after Hinman’s famous 2018 speech in an interview with Yahoo Mail, in which he stated that Ethereum is not a security.
EMPOWER found the statements contradicted the US Securities and Exchange Commission’s (SEC) stance in subsequent enforcements against firms like Ripple in an August 2021 Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request.
The whistleblowers highlighted a possible conflict of interest in the speech, accusing Hinman of conniving with his former employees to promote the Ethereum network. Furthermore, it alleged that the statement yielded personal gains for the SEC director and sought access to communication records between Hinman and the STB.
EMPOWER Reacts as US SEC Acquits Hinman
Years after the legal process commenced, the SEC finally released details of its investigation on April 10. The report, dated December 9, 2024, found EMPOWER’s allegations untrue. For context, the report noted that Hinman did not violate any criminal conflict of interest law.
Excerpt from 10-page IOG Report
Furthermore, it stressed that the director’s Ethereum speech did not directly impact his financial status in any way, as he had no cryptocurrency per his 2021 asset attestation. Moreover, he adjusted his retirement annuity with STB to a fixed rate during his onboarding with the SEC, complying with ethics rules.
Additionally, SEC stated that he prepared for this speech at Yahoo Mail in compliance with the SEC ethics rules. This meant he did not draft the speech alone but with a team of officers; hence, they were not his personal thoughts.
However, EMPOWER has criticized the report, alleging it had a limited scope. The whistleblower’s founder, Jason Foster, insisted that the IOG failed to clarify if Hinman had committed a crime with his contact with his former firm despite assuming a sensitive role in the US SEC.
We finally got the @SECGov Inspector General’s Crypto Conflicts report, focusing on William Hinman.
The narrow question of whether he committed a crime is a high bar the OIG predictably didn’t clear.
On bigger Ether/XRP selective enforcement/conflicts controversies? Whitewash. https://t.co/1vNa3LsjBX pic.twitter.com/DF18bL2RGl
— Jason Foster (@JsnFostr) April 11, 2025
Interestingly, Foster noted that the commission also failed to address the issue of selective enforcement, a decadence several industry proponents have accused the SEC officials of involvement in. Particularly, he mentioned Ethereum’s classification as a non-security and XRP’s converse disposition.
Notably, XRP enthusiasts stressed this point in a heated argument with Cardano founder Charles Hoskinson. They emphasized selective litigation, accusing the former Ethereum co-founder and his team of playing a role in the SEC’s lawsuit against Ripple in 2020.
