Coinbase’s chief legal officer, Paul Grewal, has accused the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) of “gaslighting” the American courts and the cryptocurrency industry. Grewal highlights the SEC’s case against Digital Licensing Inc., also known as “DEBT Box,” and criticizes the regulator for not following its own standard Wells process. In a brief to avoid dismissing the case against Debt Box, the SEC admitted that it did not provide Coinbase with a thorough explanation of the evidence it would use to prove potential charges against the company. Grewal questions why the government deviated from its typical process and what this implies about its claims. Coinbase received a Wells notice from the SEC in March 2023, which preceded the regulator’s lawsuit against the exchange for alleged securities law violations. Grewal notes that the Wells notice did not specify which crypto assets were involved in securities transactions. The SEC has also sent Wells notices to Robinhood’s crypto trading arm, Uniswap Labs, and has filed lawsuits against Binance and Kraken for similar violations.
