The SEC has responded to Coinbase, once more, this time to say that it’ll oppose any movement introduced forth by Coinbase searching for to dismiss the regulatory company’s lawsuit.
“However Coinbase’s personal actions belie these grievances. Earlier than changing into a publicly traded firm, Coinbase itself relied on the very elements federal courts observe, as set forth by the Supreme Courtroom in SEC v. W.J. Howey Co. to evaluate whether or not the sale of crypto belongings on its platform would qualify as a transaction in securities. In different phrases, Coinbase adopted the very authorized framework as a foundation for making itemizing selections that it now claims has no applicability to its actions,” the SEC stated in its response letter.
Coinbase’s chief authorized officer Paul Grewal referred to as the letter “extra of the identical” on Twitter and defended the usage of the Howey Check within the firm’s response.
“They ignore the plain requirement within the Supreme Courtroom’s holding in Howey a long time in the past that an funding contract in the beginning requires enforceable rights towards an issuer. It requires extra than simply an funding of cash,” he wrote.
The SEC reiterated its declare that Coinbase operates as an unregistered alternate — which is without doubt one of the key claims in its lawsuit filed towards the crypto alternate — and claims that Coinbase is utilizing “subterfuge” by repeatedly invoking “fairness to justify its unlawful conduct.”
In a June 29 submitting, Coinbase argued that the SEC couldn’t “retroactively” regulate digital asset exchanges and that the SEC was out of bounds for trying to “seize energy” with the intention to regulate cryptocurrencies.
“Within the face of such uncertainty, and missing a mandate, regulators could not seize energy for themselves. That’s the province of the legislature,” Coinbase argued.
A truth, Grewal tweeted, that the SEC ignored in its letter to the Courtroom on Friday.
“They ignore the clear and unmistakable warnings of the Supreme Courtroom simply final week towards regulatory overreach in main questions reserved to Congress,” Grewal stated. He had beforehand in contrast the Main Questions Doctrine to the SEC’s case towards Coinbase.
The SEC and Coinbase’s legal professionals are scheduled to “meet and confer” on July 10, in response to the courtroom doc filed on Friday.
