Summary of the article
- The US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has asked a judge to reject Coinbase’s request to compel the commission to respond to a rule-making petition.
- Coinbase filed a lawsuit with a federal appellate court in Philadelphia last month, alleging that “the SEC refuses to address Coinbase’s rulemaking petition.”
- In response, the SEC argued in the filing that regulatory changes take time and that there is no deadline by which it must complete the task.
Background on Coinbase’s Request
In July last year, Coinbase filed a petition with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to write regulations explaining how securities laws apply to cryptocurrency and to engage in a formal notice-and-comment process to allow the public to weigh in. The largest crypto exchange in the US also submitted a comment to the agency in March, asking for more clarity on the SEC’s views on staking services.
SEC Argues Against Coinbase’s Request
In response, Monday’s court filing from the SEC said it is not mandated to meet the requirements outlined by Coinbase outlined in its petition while also arguing that Coinbase has called for complex set of reforms and rule-making in an unreasonably short amount of time. The agency further noted that regulatory changes take time and there is no deadline by which it must complete its task.
Response from Coinbase
Coinbase Chief Legal Officer Paul Grewal responded saying it may be the first time that SEC has formally explained its views on whether and how it should create rules for crypto industry. Grewal added that SEC will continue use enforcement actions instead of defining regulatory framework.