Coinbase Global on Friday asked a judge to end the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission’s lawsuit accusing the world’s largest publicly traded cryptocurrency exchange of violating federal securities laws.
“Our core argument is simple – we do not offer ‘investment contracts’ as that term has been construed by decades of Supreme Court and other binding precedent,” Coinbase Chief Legal Officer Paul Grewal said in a post on X, formerly Twitter.Coinbase was sued by the SEC in June, and accused of operating illegally as a national securities exchange, broker and clearing agency without registering with the regulator.
The SEC has said the platforms needed to register and operate in a manner akin those dealing in stocks or bonds, while the crypto sector says that new legislation is needed. Firms are closely watching the litigation between the SEC and Coinbase, with some onlookers deeming it an “existential” clash.