Coinbase, the largest U.S. crypto business, is arguing along the same lines. Like Binance, Coinbase argued that the SEC doesn’t have explicit permission to say whether it is an unlicensed securities exchange, and cited the “major questions” doctrine in a brief meant to quickly expel the SEC’s lawsuit.
Last week, the SEC fired back against Coinbase’s brief in what has been called both its “most expansive response to date to crypto industry arguments” the agency is exceeding its bounds and also something of a “novel” interpretation of the rules. In an Oct. 4 filing, the SEC argued “major questions” is nullified in that it has never been applied to a matter of “enforcement authority.”
Further, in a novel interpretation that has ruffled some feathers, the SEC said thus far the “major questions” doctrine has only applied to strike down “novel regulatory forays,” and most significantly, novel regulatory forays into areas of major “economic and political significance.” Coinbase, the SEC said, “does not have the vast economic or political significance.”
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