The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has filed a legal response to the largest U.S. crypto exchange Coinbase's motion seeking dismissal of the charges against it. In its response, the regulator claimed that Coinbase was aware of violating U.S. securities laws before the agency filed a lawsuit against the exchange. The SEC said Coinbase knew U.S. securities laws could apply to its operations. - The agency added that the exchange openly informed its shareholders that the assets listed on Coinbase could be classified as securities, violating federal laws.
- The letter, sent to a district judge, came nearly two weeks after Coinbase filed its first legal response, asking the court to dismiss the SEC's charges against it.
- In the filing, the firm argued that the SEC approved the exchange going public in 2021 without requiring it to register with the agency or classifying any tokens listed on the platform as securities.
- The exchange also cited the SEC Chair Gary Gensler's testimony from 2021 when he said only Congress had the power to regulate the crypto industry.
- Thus, the company added that even if all the allegations in the lawsuit are true, they are beyond the SEC's legal authority.
In early June, the SEC filed a lawsuit against Coinbase over alleged U.S. securities law violations, labeling 12 tokens listed on the exchange as unregistered securities. - One day before Coinbase, Binance was also sued by the SEC through a 136-page complaint over U.S. law violations.
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