Popular crypto exchange Coinbase
COIN,
late Monday asked a federal court to force the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission to respond yes or no to its petition from July 2022 to make formal rules around digital-asset regulation.
Coinbase’s petition requested that the “Commission propose and adopt rules to govern the regulation of securities that are offered and traded via digitally native methods, including potential rules to identify which digital assets are securities.”
In March, Coinbase was hit with a Wells notice from the SEC, identifying potential violations of securities laws that might spur it to take legal action. The notice came after nine months of back-and-forth between the SEC and Coinbase, CEO Brian Armstrong said in March.
Coinbase was expected to respond to the notice by the end of April, but Monday’s filing reveals that Coinbase believes the SEC’s approach doesn’t provide enough regulatory guidance for crypto companies in the U.S. to operate.
“The SEC at a minimum must set forth how those inapt and inapposite requirements are to be adapted to digital assets. But the SEC has refused to do even that,” the filing says. “It has not conducted any rulemaking to provide the regulatory clarity and process that companies need to determine which digital asset products and services to register and how to make the registration that the SEC now demands.”
Coinbase shares slid more than 7% on Monday but are up 55% year to date. Still, the stock is down nearly 60% over the past 12 months. In comparison, the S&P 500
SPX,
is up nearly 8% in 2023 and has declined almost 4% over the past year.