A recent filing from the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) in its lawsuit against crypto miner Green United could shed light on how it may approach the case against Coinbase.
On July 31, the SEC scored a win after Judge Jed Rakoff denied Terraform Lab’s motion to dismiss the case, rejecting its argument that relied on the “major questions doctrine.”
Purported crypto miner Green United has used the same argument in its own motion to dismiss. It has also been a centerpiece for crypto defendants in cases against the SEC, including from crypto exchange Coinbase.
However, in an Aug. 4 filing, the SEC said the recent Terraform Labs ruling provides additional authority for rejecting Green United’s major questions doctrine and fair notice defenses.
The court rejected the defendant’s arguments that the major questions doctrine and the due process clause “prevent the SEC from alleging the company’s digital assets to be ‘investment contracts,’” the SEC’s letter reads.
“Accordingly, Terraform Labs is relevant to this matter because it provides additional authority for rejecting Defendants’ ‘Major Questions Doctrine’ and fair notice defenses,” it added.
The latest arguments from the SEC could shed light on how it may approach Coinbase’s own motion to dismiss, which was also filed on Aug. 4.
In Coinbase’s motion to dismiss the SEC lawsuit, the crypto exchange argued that the major questions doctrine applied, as the SEC attempted to regulate the secondary market for crypto trading.
1/7
Most important change in the Coinbase vs SEC case:
CB is arguing “major questions doctrine”
This is a statutory interpretation (legal theory essentially) that says only Congress has the right to decide “major questions” https://t.co/KtWYAR7yav
— Adam Cochran (adamscochran.eth) (@adamscochran) June 29, 2023
The major questions doctrine was established in a 2022 U.S. Supreme Court ruling outlining that Congress intends to make policy decisions and doesn’t delegate authority to agencies that require clear authorization from lawmakers.
The judge in the SEC vs. Terraform case found Terraform “cannot wield a doctrine intended to be applied in exceptional circumstances as a tool to disrupt the routine work that Congress expected the SEC and other administrative agencies to perform.”
The SEC has previously used other rulings to bolster its arguments in similar cases.
In April, it sent a letter to the presiding judge in the SEC vs. Ripple Labs case highlighting a judge’s option in a lawsuit it won where it was deemed a longstanding court precedent provides sufficient fair notice.
Canterbury MP Rosie Duffield has resigned from the Labour Party.
The 53-year-old MP is the first to jump ship since the general election and in her resignation letter criticised the prime minister for accepting thousands of pounds worth of gifts.
She told Sir Keir Starmer the reason for leaving now is “the programme of policies you seem determined to stick to”, despite their unpopularity with the electorate and MPs.
In her letter she accused the prime minister and his top team of “sleaze, nepotism and apparent avarice” which are “off the scale”.
“I’m so ashamed of what you and your inner circle have done to tarnish and humiliate our once proud party,” she said.
Since December 2019, the prime minister received £107,145 in gifts, benefits, and hospitality – a specific category in parliament’s register of MPs’ interests.
More from Politics
Ms Duffield, who has previously clashed with the prime minister on gender issues, attacked the government for pursuing “cruel and unnecessary” policies as she resigned the Labour whip.
She criticised the decision to keep the two-child benefit cap and means-test the winter fuel payment, and accused the prime minister of “hypocrisy” over his acceptance of free gifts from donors.
“Since the change of government in July, the revelations of hypocrisy have been staggering and increasingly outrageous,” she said.
“I cannot put into words how angry I and my colleagues are at your total lack of understanding about how you have made us all appear.”
Ms Duffield also mentioned the recent “treatment of Diane Abbott”, who said she thought she had been barred from standing by Labour ahead of the general election, before Sir Keir said she would be allowed to defend her Hackney North and Stoke Newington seat for the party.
Her relationship with the Labour leadership has long been strained and her decision to quit the party comes after seven other Labour MPs were suspended for rebelling by voting for a motion calling for the two-child benefit cap to be abolished.
“Someone with far-above-average wealth choosing to keep the Conservatives’ two-child limit to benefit payments which entrenches children in poverty, while inexplicably accepting expensive personal gifts of designer suits and glasses costing more than most of those people can grasp – this is entirely undeserving of holding the title of Labour prime minister,” she said.
Ms Duffield said she will continue to represent her constituents as an independent MP, “guided by my core Labour values”.