On April 24, Coinbase filed a lawsuit to compel the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to react to its earlier regulatory request. Coinbase filed a petition with the SEC in July 2022, requesting that the SEC use its regulation process to establish recommendations for companies in the cryptocurrency market.
The new filing does not obligate the SEC to respond to the petition. Instead, if the submission is successful, the SEC will be forced to accept or reject the petition.
According to Coinbase, the SEC is required to reply to petitions in a fair length of time. It implied that the SEC had most likely opted to deny its request, but that the regulator had made no public remark on the subject.
The current filing is connected to a Wells notice issued by the SEC to Coinbase in March. That notification indicates that the SEC may soon pursue charges against Coinbase, and Coinbase intends to battle the SEC in court if the case proceeds.
According to Coinbase, in order for members of the public (or Coinbase itself) to challenge particular SEC policies, the SEC must issue a statement on the subject. As a result, Coinbase requires the SEC to respond to its petition, even if the answer is “no.”
Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong said separately that he and his team met with the SEC. Coinbase, he said, will “continue pushing for a clear rule book.”
Prior to that appointment, Armstrong and his staff met with members of Congress to address related regulatory issues, including SEC overreach. The SEC has recently targeted several cryptocurrency firms, including Coinbase, Kraken, Bittrex, and Ripple. House Republicans chastised SEC head Gary Gensler last week for his agency’s severe treatment of the Bitcoin business.
