Coinbase has criticized the United States securities regulator for failing to respond to questions raised in a US appeals court as part of an ongoing legal battle with the regulator.
On June 17 letter In a lawsuit filed by the crypto exchange’s lawyers, they blamed the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) for continuing to offer the court “no straight answers” regarding Coinbase petition for rulemakingwhich calls on the SEC to create a regulatory framework for digital assets.
“When directed by this court to address the stark inconsistency between its judicial position and its actions and statements elsewhere, the SEC still offers no direct answers and instead repeats its talking points,” the letter to Coinbase said.
The letter was in response to an SEC request dated June 13 another 120 days to respond to Coinbase’s rulemaking petition.
Coinbase argued that the SEC has been reluctant to inform the court of updates to its decision, saying it is “bristling even when ordered to inform the court of its progress.”
The firm argued that the impact of the SEC’s silence, lengthy delays, and its enforcement actions continue to weigh on the crypto industry, and SEC Chairman Gary Gensler “continues attacks on a path to irreparable harm to America’s public company and the entire industry.”
On June 17, Coinbase Chief Legal Officer Paul Grewal said in a series of tweets that it was “unusual for the government to defy a direct question from a federal court.”
We couldn’t wait until our deadline next week to address the SEC’s response to the Third Circuit’s June 6 order. It is unusual for the government to defy a direct question in federal court. But the SEC’s evasive response goes even further, as we reported today. 1/5 pic.twitter.com/ssULmUpzi2
— paulgrewal.eth (@iampaulgrewal) June 17, 2023
Related: Hong Kong lawmaker invites Coinbase to region despite SEC scrutiny
Grewal said he hopes the court will grant a Writ of Mandamus — a court order to a government official ordering them to carry out their official duties under the law — given the SEC’s denial of Coinbase’s petition.
Coinbase also claims that the court instead set a deadline of 60 days or less starting on June 13 – the date of the SEC request.
In a separate case, the SEC sued Coinbase June 6 allegations that the trading platform violated various securities rules, particularly for allegedly offering cryptocurrencies that the regulator considers to be unregistered securities.
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