The United States Securities Exchange Commission (SEC) v. Coinbase lawsuit has received support from the crypto community, groups that advocate digital assets, and lawmakers. In a recent development, attorney Patrick Kennedy entered the fray and requested permission from the court to act as amicus counsel for the Chamber of Digital Commerce.
Kennedy filed an appeal to be inducted pro hac vice (for this case) in an official document filed on August 31 and expects to represent amicus curiae. The Chamber of Digital Commerce has contributed as amicus curiae to the ongoing litigation, together with the Blockchain Association. An “amicus” is a group or anyone who joins the case but has no direct involvement in it to provide the court with advice.
Through enforcement proceedings, the Chamber of Digital Commerce hopes to put an end to the SEC’s attempts to regulate the market for digital assets. The SEC’s actions run counter to the goals of both chambers of the U.S. Congress, which are proactively drafting bitcoin rules, and instead give transparent guidelines and regulations.
Brian Armstrong and Paul Grewal, two executives at Coinbase, are still optimistic that the lawsuit will be dismissed. Grewal claims that Gary Gensler, the chair of the SEC, is trying to hinder the development of cryptocurrencies in the US. Legislators have also urged the court to drop the complaint.
The rulings in the Ripple and Grayscale trials have highlighted a lack of regulatory clarity in the SEC’s determination of which cryptocurrencies constitute securities. The SEC lost recent judgments against Ripple and, additionally, Grayscale because it was unable to adequately justify its decision to deny the transformation of Bitcoin ETFs.
Gensler thinks the SEC should have control over the whole crypto business and that all cryptocurrencies, with the exception of Bitcoin, should be classified as securities. However, the SEC’s claims about cryptocurrencies appear to be irrational, which has damaged its credibility. Investor losses could also result from the SEC’s decision to delay its ruling on seven Bitcoin ETFs.
Image: Freepik
Disclosure Statement: Miami Crypto does not take any external funding, or support to bring crypto news to the readers. We do not have any conflicts of interest while writing news stories on Miami Crypto.