Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong has publicly responded to the SEC's lawsuit against his company, saying in a tweet that the team is "confident in our facts and laws" and welcomes a chance to "finally gain some clarity on encryption rules" in court.
The SEC filed a lawsuit against cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase on June 6, accusing the company of operating a stock exchange, broker-dealer and clearing house without registering with the commission. In its filing, it argued that 13 different cryptocurrencies sold by Coinbase met the definition of securities, including Cardano, Solana, Polygon, Filecoin and others.
In his Twitter reply, Armstrong claimed that the lawsuit against Coinbase is "distinct from other lawsuits" because it is "entirely focused on what is or isn't a security." This gave the team "great confidence in our facts and the law" . He claims that the US government can't even agree on which cryptocurrencies are securities because “the SEC and the CFTC [Commodity Futures Trading Commission] have issued conflicting statements.”
Armstrong expressed hope that the court process will allow cryptocurrency exchanges to "finally" figure out how to comply with securities laws. He also praised Congress's recent attempts to pass encryption legislation, saying "that's why the US Congress has introduced new legislation to address this issue .” Armstrong’s response is the latest in a string of legal filings and public statements between the exchange and the SEC since March.
Coinbase received a notification from Wells from the SEC on March 22 that the regulator may take enforcement action. In response, the exchange issued a statement from its legal team on April 19, claiming that the SEC's possible enforcement “is not supported by law and is not within the Commission's authority." A Wells notice does not initiate legal process. It is used only to notify the company of potential litigation. On April 25, Coinbase's legal team went on the offensive, preemptively filing a lawsuit against securities regulators. lawsuit, it claims that the SEC failed in a timely manner to provide clear rules for cryptocurrency trading, including rules for distinguishing whether cryptocurrencies are securities or non-securities. The SEC responded by dismissing the lawsuit on May 5,and Coinbase filed an injury response on May 23 in support of its lawsuit against the SEC.
The two organizations are now embroiled in two separate legal actions against each other, as Coinbase filed a lawsuit against the SEC on April 25 and the SEC filed a lawsuit against Coinbase on June 6.
