Coinbase’s Legal Officer Rallying Binance, Ripple, Uniswap Against SEC’s ‘Gaslighting’
Coinbase Chief Legal Officer Paul Grewal strongly criticized the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on May 14 regarding the Debt Box case. He also called on other crypto exchanges to query the SEC’s previous actions, considering the far-reaching implications for the sector.
In a thread on X, the Coinbase legal officer stated that the SEC had deviated from its typical Wells Notice process in its case against Debt Box, a cryptocurrency company it sued in 2023.
In a brief to avoid dismissal of its case against Debt Box with prejudice, @SECGov includes a remarkable admission that it did not follow its own typical Wells process when it refused to tell us what assets would be charged as securities: "The Wells process is designed to aid…
— paulgrewal.eth (@iampaulgrewal) May 13, 2024
A Wells Notice is a formal notice from the SEC sent to a respondent informing them of the substance of the charges the regulator intends to bring against them.
According to Grewal, the Wells process is meant to aid the charging decision for a potential defendant, but Coinbase did not receive such a thorough explanation in its ongoing case with the SEC. The departure from the usual procedure raised questions about the validity of the SEC’s claims.
Given his strong criticism, Grewal called on other popular crypto exchanges that received Wells notices from the SEC –Ripple, Binance, Kraken, Robinhood, and Uniswap – to stand against what he called “gaslighting.”
He criticized the SEC for its lack of clarity and insufficient explanation of charges against these exchanges, suggesting that the regulator’s actions may be inconsistent and arbitrary.
The SEC filed a lawsuit against Coinbase in June 2023, alleging the company engaged in the unregistered
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