Coinbase Ready To File On Friday August 2023, Seeking Full Dismissal Of SEC’s Case
In a Thursday earnings call, Paul Grewal, the company’s chief legal officer, stated that Coinbase had “full confidence” in its arguments to the court.
After the SEC accused the exchange of breaking securities laws earlier this summer, Coinbase plans to file an order with the court on Friday to have the complaint against it “in its entirety” dismissed.
Paul Grewal, the company’s chief legal officer, stated on a Thursday earnings call that Coinbase has “full confidence” in its arguments to the court.
Grewal stated, “With respect to litigation with the SEC, I want to be very clear — we do think we can win, we expect to win,” adding that the exchange wants to collaborate with the SEC and lawmakers to achieve “regulatory clarity.”
In June, the SEC filed charges against Coinbase for several violations related to its operations, including failing to register as an exchange, broker, or clearing agency.
The regulator also levied fines against the crypto goliath for selling securities connected to its staking-as-a-service program without first registering them.
According to Coinbase, the SEC has not engaged in rulemaking and is instead using a “regulation by enforcement approach,” stated Brian Armstrong, CEO of Coinbase, on the conference call.
Grewal stated, “Well, as it turns out, in our case in the Southern District of New York, we will be moving the court for an order dismissing the case in its entirety,” adding that the business would be submitting a brief that would be taken into account by the end of October.
The Coinbase SEC’s Opposition
Last month, attorneys for the SEC stated that the exchange knew it had broken securities laws, rejecting the argument that because it had approved a 2021 registration statement for Coinbase’s IPO, the SEC’s enforcement case was without merit.
According to a letter from SEC lawyers to Judge Katherine Polk Failla of the Southern District Court of New York. “Coinbase, a multi-billion-dollar entity advised by sophisticated legal counsel, argues it was unaware that its conduct risked violating the federal securities laws, and suggests that by approving Coinbase’s registration statement in 2021 the SEC confirmed the legality of Coin base’s underlying business activities—at that time and for all time,”
Gary Gensler, the chair of the SEC, has also asked cryptocurrency platforms to register with the organization, calling the sector “largely non-compliant.”
At a financial markets conference in May, Gensler stated, “Our agency has put out rules about what it means to be an exchange, what it means to be a broker-dealer, what it means to be an adviser of custody and assets, and how to register a securities offering.”
