Crypto Lawyer Believes XRP Delisting May Counter Coinbase’s Defense

Coinbase could have an upper hand if it did not delist XRP, the native token of Ripple, says crypto lawyer.
The SEC sent a Wells notice to Coinbase last month, to which the former had replied publicly.

Australian lawyer and well known XRP enthusiast, Bill Morgan, recently talked about the efficacies of Coinbase following XRP delisting. Morgan thinks the leading crypto exchange will have difficulties given the ceasing of Ripple’s native token trading over the platform. The lawyer’s indication is towards the potential tussle between Coinbase and the US SEC, after the former received Wells Notice from the latter.

In his long tweet thread on Twitter, citing XRP delisting in January 2021, Morgan noted that it came after the SEC’s lawsuit filing against Ripple. This indicates that the company was already keeping an eye on the matter and “considering the issue of whether XRP trading should be ceased” which it eventually got along with.

The problem for Coinbase is that the delisting of XRP in January 2020 which it did after the SEC v Ripple lawsuit was filed kind of shows it considered the issue of whether XRP trading should be ceased and made a decision to cease it. /3
— bill morgan (@Belisarius2020) April 30, 2023

TheCoinRepublic reported earlier when Coinbase received Wells notice from the United States Securities and Exchange Commission in March 2023. The financial regulator sends the notice to the company as a prior information of SEC staff looking to recommend the regulator for taking an enforcement action citing possibilities of securities laws violations.

Morgan brought attention to the instance that the exchange firm noted in its response to the notice that it expected to go with the fair notice defense if it gets sued in future. The insight came from the confidence of Coinbase where it had the notion that its fair notice defense to be stronger than any other defendants, even the Ripple’s.

However, Morgan argued that the fair defense of Coinbase is not as stronger as they think it could be than that of Ripple’s, after XRP delisting in January 2021. He even called out the action “in hindsight was a tactical mistake.” He thinks that the company could have a better chance with its fair notice defense prior to the ceasing of crypto assets.

Recently the company had cleared its stance over the notice it received from the US securities regulator. Coinbase noted in its formal response to the SEC following the notice that it had not violated securities laws.

Chief legal officer, Paul Grewal, denied the action of sending a notice to the crypto exchange accused of violating any existing law or regulation. “We are on the brink of a fight that doesn’t need to happen, and frankly shouldn’t happen,” he said.