Coinbase Lawyers Respond To SEC's Strike Attempt, Cite Biden/Nebraska Case

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) attempted to strike Coinbase's COIN defenses in a civil case.

Coinbase's attorneys responded, claiming the SEC's proposed motion do not meet the standard for granting such a motion. See below:

We have responded to the SEC’s statement of intent to move to strike Coinbase’s defenses rooted in the major questions doctrine, abuse of discretion, equitable estoppel, unclean hands, and laches. We look forward to addressing the Court tomorrow morning. pic.twitter.com/hNk5SoGyD1

— paulgrewal.eth (@iampaulgrewal) July 12, 2023

The lawyers further argue that Coinbase's defenses have a grounding in both fact and law. They cite the recent Supreme Court case Biden v. Nebraska (a case that relates to the forgiveness of federal student loans by the Biden administration) as reinforcing the applicability of the major questions doctrine in circumstances closely analogous to the current case.

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Coinbase's defenses stem from the company's reliance on the SEC's acknowledging its own lack of authority to regulate digital asset trading platforms, and from the SEC's unjust conduct in reversing course in the manner it did. The SEC disregarded Coinbase’s repeated requests for regulatory guidance, which also have a grounding in fact and law, the company argues.

Finally, Coinbase's lawyers argue that the SEC's delay in bringing an enforcement action — seeking potentially significant injunctive relief as well as punitive penalties — until years after it now claims Coinbase began violating the law, and years after allowing Coinbase to go public with the same business it operates today, causes seemingly unprecedented prejudice to Coinbase and its stockholders.

Judge Katherine Failla will preside over the case on Thursday, July 13.

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