Attorney Paul Grewal announced that the crypto exchange platform Coinbase asked permission from the United States District Court Southern District of New York to file an amicus curiae brief to support XRP from the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). Grewal, the Chief Legal Officer of Coinbase, tweeted on November 1 about the unfair acts of the US government against blockchain companies such as Ripple Labs. He shared the critical role of fair notice in situations like this, elaborating that authorities have lost touch with its rationality.
Ripple Labs has yet to comment on Coinbase’s support, but the crypto community is already showing appreciation for acting as a subsidiary for all oppressed blockchain-based firms.
SEC vs. XRP Lawsuit Continues
According to the file uploaded by Paul Grewal, Case 20 Civ. 10832 (AT) (SN) shows that the SEC is the plaintiff against the defendants, Ripple Labs co-founders Bradley Garlinghouse and Christian A. Larsen. It now includes Coinbase, Inc. with an Amicus Curiae brief “in support of the defendants’ fair notice defense.”
Nola B. Heller and Samson A. Enzer of Cahill Gordon & Reindel LLP act as the attorneys for Amicus Curiae Coinbase, Inc.
The Chief Legal Officer openly expressed the SEC’s abuse of power against crypto and DeFi companies because of the niche’s market volatility and unregulated transactions.
“One of the fundamental due process protections guaranteed by our Constitution is that government agencies cannot condemn conduct as a violation of law without providing fair notice that the conduct is illegal,” he tweeted. “The SEC has lost sight of this bedrock principle by suing sellers of XRP tokens after making public statements signaling that those transactions were lawful.”
Since the SEC’s lawsuit against Ripple in December 2020, blockchain companies have been more careful with their subsequent actions. According to the SEC, Ripple “illegally raised $1.4 billion” from selling XRP tokens that violated the investor-protection rules while the co-founders earned eight-digit profits from trades.
Catching the Attention of the Press
Cryptocurrency used to be a niche sector but became the center of attention in 2017 when some people earned unbelievable gains from Bitcoin. Mainstream media and authorities were confused then and have since snooped around the newfound crypto market.
The SEC authorities found that Ripple was one of the most suspicious companies involving large circulations of money. While they sued Garlinghouse and Larsen, the crypto community, blockchain companies, and crypto exchange platforms showed full support, saying that the SEC is wrong about Ripple.
Since then, the press, including Wall Street Journal, CNBC, Forbes, and New York Times, has covered the story. According to crypto supporters, XRP is winning the case against SEC, although the trial is far from finished as the authorities require more complex evidence to back up Ripple’s claims that it did nothing wrong.
With Coinbase backing up Ripple, the elaboration about fair notice could change the tides of the ongoing battle between the current decentralized world versus the government. Should Ripple win, the recent crypto winter may reverse and bring back the bulls. Although, only time will tell what the actual value of cryptocurrencies holds, be it BTC, ETH, XRP, ADA, SOL, or even DOGE.
So far, as of last month, Ripple claimed it won against the Securities and Exchange Commission regarding cryptocurrencies as securities. The current case may not go into trial this year, although many, including Ripple itself, are optimistic about SEC backing off.
