The US Securities and Change Fee (SEC) has firmly opposed Coinbase’s movement to compel further discovery of their ongoing authorized battle.
The dispute facilities round Coinbase’s sweeping calls for for paperwork that the SEC argues are irrelevant and overly burdensome.
In a memorandum filed on Aug. 5, the SEC contended that the trade’s discovery requests search huge quantities of data, a lot of which is both irrelevant to the core problems with the case or privileged.
SEC arguments
The SEC outlined a number of key factors towards Coinbase’s movement. Firstly, the SEC asserts that the paperwork the trade seeks should not related to the first problems with the case, arguing that the court docket’s evaluation of the details and the legislation, not the SEC’s inner discussions, will determine the case.
Secondly, the SEC highlighted the numerous burden concerned in reviewing and producing hundreds of thousands of paperwork. It famous that it has already spent over 400 hours reviewing paperwork and making ready a 648-page privilege log. Increasing the search to incorporate hundreds of thousands of further paperwork can be excessively burdensome.
The SEC additionally disputed Coinbase’s honest discover protection, stating that the legislation’s utility to digital property is obvious and that inner SEC communications are irrelevant to this goal authorized customary.
Moreover, Coinbase’s request for a pattern of SEC Chair Gary Gensler’s emails is notably contentious. The SEC argued that this request is disingenuous and burdensome, particularly since Gensler has testified below oath that he doesn’t use private units for SEC enterprise.
Court docket’s position
The SEC’s memorandum emphasised the Court docket’s position in figuring out the relevance and proportionality of discovery requests. The regulator said that correct discovery ought to be targeted on what the defendant did, emphasizing that the scope of discovery ought to be tailor-made to the precise details and authorized questions at concern.
Because the authorized battle between the SEC and Coinbase continues, the court docket’s determination on this discovery dispute will play a vital position in shaping the proceedings. The watchdog maintains that it has greater than fulfilled its discovery obligations and requires Coinbase’s movement to be denied, labeling it an unjustified and burdensome demand.
As either side put together for additional authorized confrontations, the broader cryptocurrency trade and authorized observers are carefully watching the developments, which might set essential precedents for the way forward for digital asset regulation within the US.