Coinbase Persists in Urging SEC to Address Crypto Rulemaking Petition
Mitchell Nixon
Coinbase’s Chief Legal Officer, Paul Grewal, has reiterated the request for a mandamus to compel the SEC to address the company’s petition regarding crypto rulemaking.
Coinbase has intensified its efforts to obtain a court order that forces the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to take action on the company’s request for crypto rulemaking.
Coinbase is seeking a mandamus, and they aim for the SEC to provide an official response, either accepting or denying the petition, within a 30-day period.
“The SEC’s and its officials’ words and deeds outside this proceeding have only further confirmed that the agency has denied Coinbase’s petition in all but name,” Coinbase stated.
Paul Grewal, the Chief Legal Officer at Coinbase, described the SEC’s reply as lacking clarity and viewed it as a mere bureaucratic process. Grewal commented:
“The SEC’s unilluminating “update” is mere bureaucratic pantomime and confirms that nothing short of mandamus will prompt the agency to take its obligations seriously.”
We’ve filed our response with the Third Circuit. Tl;dr: the SEC’s unilluminating “update” is mere bureaucratic pantomime and confirms that nothing short of mandamus will prompt the agency to take its obligations seriously. 1/3 https://t.co/DC1o8EflcH
— paulgrewal.eth (@iampaulgrewal) October 14, 2023
In July 2022, Coinbase originally submitted a petition for rulemaking, urging the SEC to “propose and adopt rules” for the cryptocurrency market, which might include rules to distinctly define which digital assets should be considered securities.
Subsequently, when the SEC did not provide a response, nine months later, Coinbase filed a mandamus petition, asking the court to require the SEC to issue a definitive “yes or no” response.
Nevertheless, the SEC has countered Coinbase’s claims on several occasions, rejecting the necessity to comply with Coinbase’s demands and urging the court to dismiss Coinbase’s mandamus petition.
In mid-June, the SEC requested a 120-day extension to respond to the rulemaking petition, implying that the agency might furnish a response by late October or early November.