Paul Grewal, the Chief Legal Officer of Coinbase, has identified inconsistencies in the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission’s (SEC) legal claims. He expressed this view based on the SEC’s response filed in the Lejilex case.
Lejilex Case
In the Lejilex case, the SEC argues that whether digital asset transactions qualify as securities is determined not by the nature of the asset. However, Grewal pointed out that the SEC has stated the opposite to Judge Failla.
Grewal claims that the SEC shares different opinions with one judge compared to another. He stated that he does not expect such inconsistencies from U.S. authorities. Coinbase has been supporting Lejilex against the SEC for the past few months.
“We will do everything we can to provide regulatory clarity for cryptocurrency investors.” – Grewal
SEC and Ripple Battle
In the case between Coinbase and the SEC, the SEC sought to extend the discovery period from October 18 to February 18. During this postponement, Coinbase filed a motion requesting the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) to communicate with the issuers of 12 tokens mentioned in the related case. This move will aid the lawsuit in the Southern District of New York.
Ripple 
$1 Labs, a blockchain-based payment infrastructure firm, is also under pressure from the SEC. The SEC has been pursuing its case against Ripple for nearly four years and has recently appealed regarding the securities status of XRP.
Lawyers supporting Ripple believe the SEC will likely face a negative outcome this time as well. The SEC’s inconsistencies have become a central discussion point in many cryptocurrency cases. Similar to the Lejilex example, the regulatory body has defined these as personnel errors in numerous instances.
It remains uncertain how these inconsistencies will impact the authorities’ decisions in the appeals process. If the SEC can provide clearer evidence proving the business relationship between Ripple and XRP, we might see a reversal of the decision.
