Coinbase, a cryptocurrency exchange, has taken a proactive approach by filing an Administrative Procedure Act challenge against the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).
In this filing, Coinbase requests that the Third Circuit Court of Appeals compel the SEC to provide clarity regarding how current securities laws could apply to digital assets. Last month, the SEC cautioned Coinbase that it intended to sue the exchange for allegedly listing and offering unregistered securities products.
Although Coinbase is expected to respond to these specific allegations by the end of April, the company’s filing is an effort to assert that the SEC’s current approach is insufficient in providing adequate regulatory guidance for U.S. companies operating in the crypto sector. The filing emphasizes that the SEC must provide a clear framework for adapting its existing registration and disclosure requirements to digital assets, which fundamentally differ from the traditional securities the SEC has typically regulated.
According to the filing, the SEC has refused to do so, even though it is widely acknowledged, including by a sitting SEC commissioner, that the current SEC regulations are incompatible with digital assets.
