America’s largest cryptocurrency exchange, Coinbase (NASDAQ:COIN), has requested permission from a federal court to file an amicus brief in the ongoing lawsuit between the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and Ripple Labs.
Coinbase Requests to File Amicus (NASDAQ:FOLD) Brief
Paul Grewal, Coinbase’s chief legal officer, announced that on October 31st, the crypto exchange requested permission from Judge Torres for permission to file an amicus (friend of the court) brief in the ongoing SEC lawsuit.
Coinbase has joined the Blockchain Association, SpendTheBits, Investor Choice Advocates Network, and John Deaton to become the latest organization to file an Amicus brief to give advice to the court on the Ripple Labs case.
Coinbase believes that the SEC has failed to keep up with the fast-moving crypto industry and also in creating a regulatory framework. They also argue that the SEC has been inconsistent about its enforcement, creating “uncertainty” for companies. Grewal wrote:
One of the fundamental due process protections guaranteed by our Constitution is that government agencies cannot condemn conduct as a violation of law without providing fair notice that the conduct is illegal. 2/3— paulgrewal.eth (@iampaulgrewal) October 31, 2022
Ripple gets the Upper Hand Against the SEC
The case, which was filed in late 2020 and saw the SEC accuse Ripple Labs of selling XRP as an unregistered security, has turned in favour of the defendants. In addition to the growing support, Ripple has scored major wins in the case.
Recently, the SEC was asked to turn over the Hinman documents to Ripple Labs. In the documents, William Hinman, the former SEC boss, remarked that cryptos like Bitcoin and Ethereum were “sufficiently decentralized.” Therefore, they are not securities.
On the Flipside
- Ripple’s CEO, Brad Garlinghouse, has taken a jab at Coinbase co-founder and CEO Brian Armstrong over his hypocritical anti-tribalism campaign.
Why You Should Care
As the majority of the updates on the lawsuit benefit Ripple Labs, the court is expected rule in their favour. The case is set to eventually be concluded on or before March 2023,
Find more details on the Hinman documents in:
Ripple Lawyer Says ‘Worth the Fight’ After Receiving Hinman Files from SEC
Read about the expansion of Ripple below:
Ripple Launches Sidechain to Bring Ethereum (ETH) Smart Contracts to the XRP Ledger