International regulators support the SEC

In its legal battle with Coinbase, the SEC is getting support from a coalition of international regulators.

A coalition representing several international regulators has filed an assessment with the New York court supporting the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) in its legal dispute with crypto exchange Coinbase.

The North American Securities Administrators Association, or NASAA (not to be confused with the U.S. space agency NASA), states that several cryptocurrencies are securities on Coinbase. According to the statement, "the SEC's theory in this case is consistent with the agency's longstanding public position, the views of state securities regulators, and even with the understanding of issuers of digital assets ."

Coinbase is accused of operating an unregistered stock exchange

The SEC is accusing Coinbase of operating an unregistered securities exchange. This is based on the so-called Howey test, which allows assets to be classified as securities after meeting four criteria. Coinbase sees this differently and wants to change the definition classification. NASAA condemns this move: "The court should reject a rewrite of the Howey test so that companies trading in digital assets cannot avoid regulatory oversight."

In the legal dispute between the crypto exchange and the SEC, Coinbase recently scored a first-phase victory.