Coinbase plans to file a petition seeking the dismissal
of a lawsuit brought by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The
cryptocurrency exchange is planning to argue before the courts that it did not list securities on its
platform and that the SEC has no jurisdiction over crypto exchanges.
The Chief Legal Officer
of Coinbase, Paul Grewal, made the announcement yesterday (Thursday) during the
exchange’s earnings call. Grewal expressed optimism that Coinbase was
likely to win the case against the regulator.
The SEC
sued Coinbase in June
for allegedly operating its crypto asset trading platform illegally and
offering unregistered securities. Additionally, the regulator claims that
Coinbase comingled and illegally offered the services of exchange,
broker-dealer, and clearinghouse, which according to the law governing
securities, ought to have been separated.
Coinbase maintains that
there is no regulatory clarity for the digital asset sector and that the
regulators seem to have conflicting stances on digital assets. For instance,
the exchange cited statements issued by the SEC and the CFTC regarding whether Ether is a commodity or a security.
In March, CFTC’s
Chairman, Rostin Behnam, reiterated that Ether is a commodity, while the…
