SEC vs Ripple: Coinbase Files Amicus Brief in Support

Table of Contents

• The Securities Saga Continues

Cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase becomes the latest institution to throw its weight behind Ripple Labs in its battle against the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Crypto exchange Coinbase has filed seeking permission to help Ripple Labs in its ongoing battle with the SEC which may wrap up as soon as the first half of 2023. Paul Grewal, Coinbase’s chief legal officer, posted a series of tweets on October 31 saying that Coinbase had asked presiding judge Analise Torres for permission to file an amicus brief, stating that the case is a “textbook” definition of “just how critical fair notice is.” An amicus brief is known as a “friend of the court,” and is a legal brief that contains advice or information relating to a court case from an organisation that is not directly involved in the proceedings. Should Coinbase’s application be approved it will join the likes of the non-profit organisation Investor Choice Advocates Network and crypto mobile app SpendTheBits which were granted permission to file amicus briefs in October.

Earlier today, @coinbase asked Judge Torres for permission to file an amicus brief in the SEC case over XRP. Our point in pretty simple: this is a textbook case of just how critical fair notice is any reasonable notice of due process under law. 1/3 pic.twitter.com/qhSSGrNgJK

— paulgrewal.eth (@iampaulgrewal) October 31, 2022

Coinbase’s application comes only a day after crypto advocacy group the Blockchain Association also pledged its support for Ripple by announcing that it had filed its own amicus brief. The Blockchain Association noted that SEC chairman Gary Gensler’s views on securities laws could have “devastating effects” on the crypto space.

Grewal also added that a fundamental protection under the Constitution is that authorities can’t “condemn conduct as a violation of law without providing fair notice that the conduct is illegal.” He added:

By suing sellers of XRP tokens after making public statements signaling that those transactions were lawful, the SEC has lost sight of this bedrock principle.

The Securities Saga Continues

The case involving the SEC and Ripple Labs was filed in December 2020 by the SEC against Ripple Lab and CEO Brad Garlinghouse. The SEC alleges that the company raised $1.3 billion in unregistered securities offerings since 2013. Ripple gained a small victory recently over the SEC when the commission was ordered to hand over the Hinman documents. The documents include discovery material proving that the former Director of Corporation Finance, William Hinman, delivered a speech in which he claimed that Bitcoin and Ether are not securities. On September 29, Judge Torres ordered the regulatory body to hand them over to Ripple and did so on October 21.

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