Coinbase seeks dismissal of SEC suit, claims extraordinary abuse of process

cointelegraph.com:

In the ongoing legal battle between Coinbase and the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), the American cryptocurrency exchange has filed a motion to dismiss the SEC’s complaint.

In a legal document filed on Thursday, June 29 with the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, Coinbase raised concerns about the SEC’s interpretation of securities laws, suggesting the agency was reaching beyond its legal authority.

This move underscores Coinbase’s determination to challenge the SEC’s lawsuit. The motion to dismiss argues that even if all the allegations in the lawsuit are true, the plaintiff does not have a valid legal claim. Coinbase’s legal team stated in the filing:

The SEC lawsuit alleged that Coinbase facilitated unregistered trading in 12 digital tokens that were deemed securities.

The company has contested this claim, and argued that the SEC was applying securities laws to certain digital tokens in ways that significantly deviate from existing legal frameworks. Paul Grewal, Coinbase’s chief legal officer, wrote in a tweet on June 29, that the SEC’s claims “go far beyond existing law” and should, therefore, be dismissed.

Today @coinbase filed our answer and notice of intent to file a motion to dismiss the @SECGov case against us. You can read our response for yourself – our arguments speak for themselves. 1/2 https://t.co/Ld2ZEejhyM

The SEC's definition of security includes investment contracts, which have been interpreted by the Supreme Court in the Howey Test to include transactions where individuals invest money in a common enterprise and expect profits primarily from the efforts of others. In its suit, the SEC named 12 crypto tokens as securities, including Solana SOL, Cardano (ADA),