Coinbase executives on Wednesday responded to the Securities and Exchange Commission’s (SEC) lawsuit by saying the cryptocurrency industry lacks clear guidelines. The SEC had alleged that the company had traded 13 crypto assets that should have been registered as securities, including tokens such as Solana, Cardano, and Polygon.
CEO Brian Armstrong stated on CNBC that “It’s not appropriate for the regulator to come back and do an enforcement action if we don’t have a clear rulebook and clear guidance.” He continued by saying that the SEC was claiming “everything other than bitcoin is a security. Well, that’s not our interpretation of the law.” Coinbase has been pushing the SEC to create new crypto-specific regulations since last year and on Tuesday the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit ordered the SEC to provide a response within a week.
Coinbase’s Chief Legal Officer Paul Grewal pointed out the differences between the SEC’s lawsuit against Coinbase and its lawsuit against Binance on Monday. Grewal declared there were no allegations against Coinbase for not respecting limitations on commingling funds, failing to properly segregate any assets, or operating its own hedge fund.
The SEC had also filed a motion to freeze assets belonging to Binance’s U.S. affiliate, but Grewal stated he was confident the SEC wouldn’t take such a step in Coinbase’s case due to the required standards not applying.
Coinbase shares rebounded on Wednesday to rise nearly 4.3% to $53.8.
