SEC Coinbase Lawsuit Continues With Court Approvals for Exchange

Key Points:

• A New York judge granted Coinbase partial access to SEC documents but denied Gary Gensler’s subpoena in the SEC Coinbase lawsuit over unregistered securities.
• Coinbase’s legal team seeks documents related to tokens in the SEC’s complaint and internal deliberations about the exchange’s public listing.
• A separate class-action lawsuit accuses Coinbase of misleading investors by downplaying the likelihood of SEC enforcement, with a New Jersey judge allowing investors to amend their case.

A New York judge has granted part of crypto exchange Coinbase’s request to compel the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission to release certain documents related to its SEC Coinbase lawsuit.

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Judge Grants Coinbase Partial Access to SEC Documents in SEC Coinbase Lawsuit

The legal fight arising from the SEC Coinbase lawsuit last year, accusing the platform of offering services without proper registration. Coinbase tried to seek dismissal of the case, but U.S. District Judge Katherine Polk Failla rejected the motion and, well, here the lawsuit now moves into discovery.

The legal team from Coinbase filed a motion asking the court to compel the SEC to produce documents related to the tokens mentioned in the complaint from the SEC and the commission’s internal discussions about the exchange going public in 2021.

The court granted some, but denied Coinbase’s motion to compel Gensler to produce personal documents-including private emails. According to The Block, the subpoena was revised to include only materials from Gensler’s tenure as SEC chair and none from before that period. The SEC will not be forced to respond to this request.

This decision by Judge Failla got Coinbase’s Chief Legal Officer, Paul Grewal, very optimistic because it will help them in getting crucial documents for their defense in SEC Coinbase lawsuit. The court ordered that internal memoranda regarding the application of the Howey Test in its key analysis for determining whether assets are securities or not should be disclosed by the SEC.

Investors Allowed to Amend Class-Action Lawsuit Against Coinbase

That development might have wider implications for the cryptocurrency industry, in particular, as the SEC pursues more enforcement actions. The commission has ongoing cases against firms accused of offering unregistered securities, including Ripple Labs, ordered to pay $125 million in penalties.

On the same day that Coinbase scored its partial win in court, a judge in New Jersey also cleared the way for a group of investors to seek an amended complaint in a class-action lawsuit filed against the exchange.

Investors accused the company of deceiving shareholders by downplaying the chances of taking SEC action. Filed in May this year, the class action alleges that Coinbase hid the fact that assets traded on its platform could be considered securities to further its business.

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