Coinbase accused the SEC of violating federal law
Coinbase has filed a written appeal to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit. The exchange is trying to appeal the SEC's refusal to respond to the rulemaking petition.
The Coinbase crypto exchange appealed to the Third Circuit Court of Appeals with a demand to oblige the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to respond to the rulemaking petition. The company stated that the regulator's refusal is a violation of federal law.
Today @coinbase filed our opening brief in the Third Circuit challenging the SEC’s denial of our rulemaking petition. Tl;dr: the SEC’s denial is arbitrary and capricious, an abuse of discretion, and a violation of the Administrative Procedures Act. 1/7 https://t.co/v09uE2OHsb
— paulgrewal.eth (@iampaulgrewal) March 11, 2024
According to Coinbase general counsel Paul Greval, the SEC acted "capriciously and wilfully" by refusing to respond to the exchange's petition.
"If you go back and read the Commission's response, it will be difficult for you to find the real reason for its inaction. And this is despite dozens of well—founded concerns that we expressed in our petition, including doubts about the SEC's authority in the crypto asset market," the company's CLO stressed.
Over the years, the SEC has repeatedly appealed to the US Congress to grant it the authority to oversee the cryptosphere, Greval noted.
However, at a certain point, the Commission initiated a broad law enforcement campaign against contractors in this sector, without having any grounds or permission, CLO added.
To understand the situation, Greval also published an extract from the Coinbase documents. It provides confirmation that the SEC did not consider crypto assets as securities in 2018.
Don't want to read our entire 78-page brief in our Third Circuit suit against the SEC? Just read this to understand how broken the Commission's approach has been. pic.twitter.com/jBlEr9DKOZ
— paulgrewal.eth (@iampaulgrewal) March 11, 2024
The SEC rejected Coinbase's appeal in December 2023. It took the regulator a year and a half and a court decision to consider the petition.
In the same month, the exchange went to court demanding that the SEC review the decision. The exchange's new statement is a written argumentation of the company's position.
The next step in this process, according to the California Appellate Courts website, is the filing of an appeal by the respondent party.
Source: https://incrypted.com/coinbase-obvynyla-sec-v-narushenyy-federalnogo-zakonodatelstva/
