Coinspeaker
Coinbase to Submit New Court Filing Today as Exchange Seeks to Have SEC’s Case ‘Entirely’ Dismissed
The ongoing US Securities and Exchange Commission’s (SEC) lawsuit against Coinbase may be about to take a new turn. This follows after the defendant – Coinbase – confirmed that it will be filing an order to the same effect in court today. According to the American crypto exchange, the filing will seek to have the court throw out the entire case of “securities law violation” that the SEC has built against it so far.
For what it’s worth, Coinbase has long argued that the regulator has not been about rulemaking. As Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong put it, the SEC has been employing the “regulation by enforcement approach.”
Furthermore, Coinbase accused the SEC of misleading it. The exchange claimed that the mere fact that the regulator approved its registration statement in 2021 has already put to bed any questions that may arise about the legality of its business activities.
In line with these arguments, Coinbase is now full of confidence as they approach the court and inch closer to a final ruling.
Sharing the firm’s expectations, the chief legal officer at Coinbase, Paul Grewal said:
“With respect to litigation with the SEC, I want to be very clear – we do think we can win, we expect to win.”
However, Grewal quickly added that Coinbase is not only keen to win the court case. Rather, the exchange is willing to work hand-in-hand with the SEC and lawmakers to obtain “regulatory clarity,” he added.
‘Coinbase Knows It Violated Securities Laws,’ SEC Argues
Meanwhile, SEC lawyers have also pushed back at Coinbase. The regulator argued last month that the exchange’s claim about the 2021 registration statement does not mean that its enforcement action is not valid. And by SEC Chair Gary Gensler’s accounts, the crypto industry in itself is largely non-compliant. So, he has urged crypto platforms to come under the agency’s fold and duly register.
During a financial markets conference in May, Gensler remarked that their agency “has put out rules about what it is to be an exchange, what it means to be a broker-dealer, what it is to be an adviser of custody and assets, and how to register a securities offering.”
Coinbase to Submit New Court Filing Today as Exchange Seeks to Have SEC’s Case ‘Entirely’ Dismissed