SEC Urges Judge to Deny Coinbase’s Lawsuit Dismissal Request

The United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) countered Coinbase’s request to have a lawsuit against them dismissed, urging a federal judge to reject their motion on October 3 filing.

In a filing made in a New York District Court, the SEC challenged Coinbase’s arguments for dismissal and restated its position that certain cryptocurrencies available on the Coinbase platform should be considered investment contracts under the Howey Test, thus requiring registration with the SEC.

The SEC has claimed that Coinbase has “known all along” that the cryptocurrencies it offers would be classified as securities if they met the criteria outlined in the Howey Test. Furthermore, the SEC alleged that Coinbase acknowledged this fact in its submissions to the SEC.

Additionally, the regulator dismissed Coinbase’s argument based on the “major questions doctrine,” which asserted that the SEC lacked jurisdiction over the cryptocurrency market until Congress explicitly granted such authority.

In a Twitter post, Paul Grewal, the legal chief of Coinbase said that the SEC’s arguments were “more of the same old same old” and declared the assets it lists “are not securities and are not within the SEC’s jurisdiction.”

Miles Jennings, a16z crypto general counsel, said in a Twitter post that the SEC’s motion “has a lot of holes.”

Also Read: CFTC vs. SEC: Majority of Crypto Should Be Seen as Commodities