Breaking: US Court Interrupts SEC’s Enforcement Against Crypto Exchanges

Crypto News: U.S. top financial watchdog, Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) jolted the global digital asset industry by suing two of the largest crypto exchanges. As per a short order issued by Third Circuit, US SEC is required to reply to Coinbase’s pending petition for rulemaking within 7 day.

Also Read: Coinbase Receives “Show Cause” Order From 10 US States

US SEC Needs To Deny Or Accept Coinbase’s Petition

United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit noted that the SEC has filed a lawsuit against Coinbase and other crypto firms without having responding on Coinbase’s petition. The court asked the SEC to submit a letter within 7 days and provide an answer for the petition.

As per the order, U.S. SEC needs to decide whether it denies Coinbase’s petition for rulemaking. The court also inquired about the additional time Commission needs to decide whether to grant or deny that petition.

Coinbase’s Chief Legal Officer, Paul Grewal, referring to the court order stated that they believe that the SEC could not be proceeding with litigation against any crypto exchange without responding to pending petition. He added, in case if SEC responds “No”, they have every right to challenge it in the court again.

Earlier, Coinbase has filed a writ of mandamus in the US Court Of Appeals for the Third Circuit back in April. Basically, US SEC ignored Coinbase’s one year old petition and went ahead to sue Coinbase and other crypto exchanges. SEC could respond to petition, but as described by Coinbase Chief Legal Officer, it would open further legal battle to push the rulemaking over digital assets.

Gary Gensler’s Harsh Take On Crypto

U.S SEC Chair, Gary Gensler has been alleged of not providing a clear set of rules to the crypto market and leading the agency by forced enforcement. His recent comments direct that there might be more lawsuits coming in over the other major crypto firms.

Coinbase’s Chief Legal Officer added that they believe that the rules of the crypto industry should be clear before any enforcement actions. However, if US SEC wants to deny the rulemaking petition then the agency needs to inform the exchange by the law.

It will be important to see whether the US SEC will file a reply to this petition, and if the commission leads its reply with a “No”.