Coinbase’s legal battle with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) regarding regulatory clarity for digital asset trading has made progress. The US Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit responded to Coinbase’s complaint against the SEC with a text-only order instructing the SEC to respond to Coinbase’s writ of mandamus within 10 days.
The writ is a court order demanding an inferior government official to fulfill their official duties properly. Coinbase filed a lawsuit in April requesting the court to compel the SEC to publicly disclose its stance on a petition submitted several months prior. The SEC has increased enforcement and issued warnings to crypto exchanges despite the lack of public response to the petition. Coinbase’s request for regulatory clarity has been hindered by ongoing regulatory issues, which have caused Citigroup to downgrade its shares from “buy” to “neutral” due to too many unknowns until regulatory “rules of the road” are established.
