Court Gives SEC 10 Days to Respond to Coinbase’s Complaint

A U.S. court has ordered that the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has 10 days to respond to the complaint made by cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase last month, Coinbase’s chief legal officer Paul Grewal said on 4 May.

According to the announcement, the U.S. Third Circuit Court of Appeals filed a text-only order against the SEC, giving it 10 days to respond to Coinbase’s writ of mandamus — a court order addressed to a government official, requesting them to fulfill their official duties properly — after which the exchange will have 7 days to file its own reply.

The court order was issued in response to Coinbase’s lawsuit against the SEC from last week, in which the exchange requested that the regulator is compelled to respond to a petition submitted by Coinbase back in July 2022. In its petition, the exchange requested that the SEC provide clearer regulatory guidelines for the crypto industry, as well as answer 50 specific questions about the regulatory treatment of certain digital assets.

The lawsuit was filed almost a month after Coinbase revealed it had received a Wells notice from the SEC — a letter warning a company that enforcement actions might be taken — which alleged the exchange’s services may be violating securities law. Coinbase noted that it had asked the SEC to specifically identify which parts of its business were violating securities law, but they declined to do so.