Coinbase’s actions aim to compel the SEC to provide a response to the original petition, which inquired whether the SEC would propose and adopt rules to govern the regulation of securities that are offered and traded via digitally native methods.
Even though the SEC never responded to the petition, Coinbase’s chief legal officer Paul Grewal asserted that the SEC has already made up its mind to deny the original petition based on its enforcement activity in the crypto industry but has not issued a public statement in this regard. Grewal also emphasised that more than 1,700 entities and individuals have submitted comments to Coinbase’s petition thus asking for regulatory clarity in the crypto sector.
The lawsuit was filed in the US Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit on 24 April 2023, and it represents the latest opposition effort faced by the SEC in recent months. The regulatory body has ramped up its actions against crypto companies such as Bittrex, Gemini and Genesis, and it even threatened to sue Coinbase over some of the exchange’s products.
According to TechCrunch, Coinbase is one of the most compliant cryptocurrency exchanges in the US. However, the company has faced some issues over the years as it could not develop and roll out new products due to legal uncertainties. Coinbase representatives cited by the same source revealed that the exchange might even consider re-locating outside the US unless the country changes its regulatory approach.
In April 2023, Coinbase considered integrating the Bitcoin Lightning Network into its platform. The news came from Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong who revealed the possibility of implementing the Bitcoin Lightning Network via a Twitter post as he replied to a user that questioned the company’s lack of public comments on the scaling solution. The Coinbase CEO revealed that his tweets auto-delete after a few months, which caused the lack of history.
In March 2023, Coinbase entered a partnership with Pix as part of its service expansion efforts in Brazil. By tapping into Pix’s capabilities, Brazilians will have an easier time purchasing crypto using the Brazilian real. The partnership will also support deposits and withdrawals from Coinbase accounts in real, and users will benefit from easier access to opening a Coinbase account.
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