Ian McGinley, now a partner at the law firm of Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld, told CoinDesk TV’s “First Mover” Friday that the SEC couldn’t have filed the case unless the tokens in question are securities.
“They don’t have a wire fraud statute like the DOJ does,” McGinley said, referring to wire fraud charges issued by the U.S. Department of Justice on Thursday.
McGinley, who served more for more than a decade as an assistant U.S. attorney in the Southern District of New York, noted the Justice Department can sidestep the debate of whether the tokens are securities.
“The SEC doesn’t have that option,” McGinley said. “They will have to prove that it’s a security.”
Source: SEC Will Need to Prove Tokens Are Securities in Coinbase Insider-Trading Case, Legal Expert Says
