- Coinbase’s legal head, Paul Grewal, has said that the company expects to win its case against the SEC
- Grewal told investors yesterday that the exchange plans to file a motion to dismiss the case today.
- The SEC sued Coinbase in June, accusing it of five charges related to conducting unregistered offerings and making misleading statements.
Coinbase’s legal head Paul Grewal has told investors that the company expects to win its upcoming court case against the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and that it will file a motion to dismiss the case today. Grewal, talking as Coinbase revealed better-than-expected quarterly figures, talked tough regarding the exchange’s position against the SEC, telling investors that “we expect to win.” Coinbase will be boosted by the verdict in the SEC’s recent case against Ripple, although dismissal of the case at this early stage is rarely successful.
Coinbase Defending Itself Against Five Charges
The SEC sued Coinbase in June, accusing it of five charges, including conducting an unregistered offering of security-based swaps, operating as an unregistered national securities exchange, acting as an unregistered broker-dealer, listing and offering unregistered securities, and making misleading statements about its registration status and regulatory framework.
The commission claims that Coinbase’s failure to register has denied investors necessary disclosures and safeguards, subjecting them to significant risks. The SEC seeks injunctive relief, disgorgement of ill-gotten gains, prejudgment interest, civil penalties, and any other appropriate relief for the benefit of investors.
Grewal on the Offensive
Grewal addressed the charges during the investor call yesterday when someone raised the issue:
“With respect to the litigation with the SEC, I want to be very clear. We do think we can win. We expect to win.”
Grewal added that Coinbase’s first step will be to file a motion to dismiss, something almost everyone does when sued in case it happens to work. In most cases, however, there is enough evidence put forward by the plaintiffs to assure a judge that the case isn’t meritless.
It is understood that Coinbase’s claim is that it did not list securities on its platform, that the SEC has no regulatory authority over crypto exchanges and that it never told Coinbase to register when it declared Coinbase’s registration statement effective in April 2021.
