Top Ripple Lawyer Says Coinbase Is Fighting Against “Broken Regulator”

Stuart Alderoty, a top lawyer at Ripple, has commended the Coinbase legal team, led by Paul Grewal, for their ongoing legal battle against the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). 

This endorsement comes amid Coinbase’s effort to dismiss the damning lawsuit.   

Coinbase’s stance in the SEC legal battle

Paul Grewal, representing Coinbase, has recently articulated the company’s position regarding the SEC’s lawsuit. 

In a series of posts, Grewal asserted that the SEC is overreaching its authority by claiming broad jurisdiction over all investment types without a clear limiting principle. 

He stressed that Coinbase does not offer securities and is confident in its legal arguments. 

Grewal also noted the importance of Congress, rather than the SEC, in defining regulatory boundaries. This echoes an industry-wide call for more precise legislative guidance in the realm of cryptocurrency.

The Ripple case and its Implications for Coinbase

The recent Coinbase hearing saw the SEC’s legal team referencing Judge Torres’s ruling in the Ripple case. The SEC lawyer disagreed with Judge Torres’s decision, which differentiated between sales of the XRP token to retail investors on the secondary market and to institutions or ‘sophisticated’ investors. 

The outcome of the SEC lawsuit against Coinbase hinges on whether transactions in about a dozen cryptocurrency tokens constitute unregistered securities. 

Judge Katherine Polk Failla has not yet made a final ruling on whether the lawsuit should be dismissed, with a decision expected in the coming weeks. 

This case is closely watched as it may set a significant precedent for the cryptocurrency industry.