The Coinbase administration submitted to the court a private opinion on the case of the ex-exchange manager, denying the existence of a crime and demanding a review of the decision.
A motion to dismiss the criminal case was filed with the Seattle District Court. Coinbase asks to stop the investigation of Nikhil Wahi and Ishan Wahi, accused by the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) of insider trading in securities.
Coinbase management denied that any of the assets that former Coinbase manager Ishan Wahi had access to were securities. The crypto exchange, in principle, does not quote securities.
The trading floor’s general counsel, Paul Grewal, reminded the court that the company had repeatedly attempted to register with the SEC in order to be able to offer digital asset-denominated securities to customers. However, all efforts were in vain.
Returning to the materials of the legal investigation against the Wahey brothers, Paul Grewell said that the SEC would have quite a legal right to seek criminal prosecution of the employees of the exchange if it could provide Coinbase with comprehensive rules and recommendations beforehand. Moreover, the SEC was not even able to defend its position in court.
In a filing with the court, Coinbase said the SEC is deliberately deviating from its primary role in favor of initiating unsubstantiated lawsuits. And also that forms of enforcement by the Commission pose a threat to the US digital market and investors.
The other day, the CEO of Grayscale Investments explained the SEC’s refusal to approve the launch of an ETF for bitcoin by the inability of the regulator to control the cryptocurrency market.
