SEC Responds to Coinbase Request for Crypto Clarity, Wants More Time

On June 14, Coinbase chief legal officer Paul Grewal updated the situation on the SEC response to the company’s repeated calls for regulatory clarity.

The watchdog, which has launched an outright attack on the industry this year, “repeated the fallacy that they haven’t made any decision on new crypto rules,” he reported from the filing.

A few minutes ago, the SEC filed its response to the last week’s Third Circuit. You can read it for yourself below together with my own initial read of it. 1/5

— paulgrewal.eth (@iampaulgrewal) June 13, 2023

SEC Wants More Time

The filing stated that the regulator wants at least four months to make a recommendation.

“Commission staff anticipate being able to make a recommendation to the Commission regarding Coinbase’s rulemaking petition within the next 120 days.”

Coinbase sent a petition way back in July 2022 asking for guidance and more clarity on regulation for the new asset class. Up until recently, it has been ignored by the SEC, which continues to crack down with enforcement actions.

Grewal added that the SEC refused to commit to any deadline despite the court’s explicit order. More importantly, he said:

“They ignore the clear statements of the Chair that confirm they have no intent to issue new rules, and instead conflate the evidence of a decision those statements provide with an argument that the statements are themselves a decision.”

There has been a great deal of backlash against the SEC following its outright attacks on the digital asset industry.

On June 12, lawmakers in the House of Representatives filed a new bill intended to remove Gary Gensler as the Chair of the SEC and restructure the financial regulator.

The move was led by Senator Warren Davidson and House Majority Whip Tom Emmer. “U.S. capital markets must be protected from a tyrannical Chairman, including the current one,” said Davidson.

Crypto Market Update

Crypto markets have not really reacted to any news this week and remain in consolidation. Total market capitalization is up just under a percentage point on the day to reach $1.1 trillion.

BTC prices have topped $26,000 during the Wednesday morning Asian trading session, but it remains range-bound. There has been no move on Ethereum prices which remain at $1,744 at the time of writing.

BNB is the only asset to have recovered with a 7.6% gain on the day as the court urges Binance.US and the SEC to reach an agreement and avoid an asset freeze.