Regulation
Former SEC chief says Coinbase now has regulatory clarity
John Reed Stark, a former executive at the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), criticized Coinbase in his lawsuit with the regulator. Speaking to his official X account, the SEC veteran noted that Coinbase can no longer claim that it does not have the regulatory clarity it is demanding.
Former SEC Official John Reed Stark’s Position on Coinbase
The legal tussle between the US SEC and Coinbase has taken a new turn with the trading platform exploring an appeal against Judge Polk Failla’s latest ruling. Earlier, the trading platform asked the court to grant a motion to dismiss (MTD) request, saying the SEC had no case.
In a major twist, Judge Failla noted that the SEC had adequately argued that Coinbase was offering securities to investors. The trading platform continued to argue that there is a lack of regulatory clarity on which the SEC is basing its argument.
In response to the current trend, John Reed Stark noted that the denial of the MTD request and the way the Telegram, Kik, LBRY and Terraform Labs legal cases ended provide decades of regulatory clarity that Coinbase could address. hang. John Reed also noted that the decades of precedent these cases provide provide at least 80 years of legal precedent for Coinbase.
This argument that there is no fundamental legal precedent applicable to cryptocurrencies remains major in the sector today. Crypto proponents, particularly legal experts, have consistently maintained that many of the tokens proscribed by the SEC are not securities. On this basis, Coinbase is pursuing a Interlocutory appeal against MTD’s refusal decision.
In Ripple Labs v. SEC, Judge Analisa Torres ruled that XRP by itself is not a security. The ruling at the time states that XRP tokens acquired on exchanges like Coinbase by retail investors do not violate securities laws. Market experts articulated their arguments that Coinbase had a strong case around this move.
Congress could determine new rules
The regulatory landscape in the United States and how crypto executives view it remains quite volatile. Uncertainty in crypto regulation and how it affects social discourse has also sparked a major argument between Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse and Tether CEO Paolo Ardoino.
Although Garlinghouse attempted to correct bad ideas which triggered Ardoino’s harsh comments, the role of American lawmakers is now more amplified than ever. Crypto advocates like John Deaton believe the country needs a bipartisan approach to address the lack of clarity in the industry.
Although John Reed Stark believes the SEC is vindicated in its Coinbase lawsuit, the majority may determine the regulatory path in the near future.
Learn more: OpenAI ChatGPT event announcements: GPT-4o model and desktop version