Coinbase's Legal Chief: SEC Is Bent on Choking the Digital Asset Industry

Coinbase’s chief legal officer, Paul Grewal, announced that the crypto exchange has filed a closing brief in the Third Circuit challenging the SEC’s denial of their rulemaking petition. The brief argues that the SEC’s order, which disagrees with claims that SEC rules are unworkable for digital asset firms, lacks reasoned decision-making. Grewal asserts that the SEC cannot extend its jurisdiction over the digital asset industry without congressional authorization and clear rules. “Remarkably, the SEC says – over and over again – that it doesn’t matter if the industry can comply with the rules,” he wrote on social media platform X, adding: “The SEC is bent on choking the digital asset industry, and is refusing to provide the necessary rules the industry has requested in order to tighten the squeeze.”