Coinbase Global appealed to a federal appeals court on Monday (Sept. 23) in an attempt to force the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to create new rules for digital assets.
The cryptocurrency exchange sued the SEC last year after the regulator rejected its request for new regulations, seeking to force it to do so, Reuters said. reported Monday.
Coinbase Global Wanted the SEC provide clarification on when a digital asset is a security and to create a market structure framework compatible with cryptocurrencieswhile The SEC said that current regulations can cover the crypto sector, according to the report.
At Monday’s hearing, a Coinbase lawyer told the court that the SEC had made it impossible for the company to operate in compliance with U.S. regulations, the report said.
An SEC lawyer said existing regulations are sufficient and the agency is not required to create new rules, the report said.
The three judges who heard the arguments said Monday that the SEC can adjust its own regulatory priorities but I asked The regulator explained why cryptocurrency was not among those priorities, the report said.
In a thread published Monday on X, Coinbase’s legal director Paul Grewal wrote that the SEC declined to provide regulatory guidance while Also engage in a campaign of “arbitrary” enforcement.
“Regulation through enforcement only harms American consumers, innovation, U.S. competitiveness, and our national security,” Grewal wrote in the thread. “Coinbase is committed to leaving no stone unturned in its efforts to obtain clarity for our industry and the millions of Americans who hold cryptocurrencies.”
When the SEC announced in December 2023 that it had decided, by a vote of 3-2, to deny Coinbase’s petition for new rules in the digital assets sector, SEC chairman Gary Gensler He said he supported the decision for three reasons.
“First, existing laws and regulations apply to crypto-securities markets,” Gensler said at the time. in a statement. “Second, the SEC is also addressing crypto-securities markets through rulemaking. Third, it is important to maintain the Commission’s discretion in defining its own “regulatory priorities”.
