Disclaimer, I would like to disclose this a more of an opinion piece than a news article. I do talk about a recent news event, but I dive into a fair amount of opinion.
Here we go, more Ripple and SEC news, but this time it has an interesting twist. Coinbase is one of the larger U.S. based crypto exchanges. They and Ripple have not had the most friendly of relationships. No one is privy to the real details, but due to actions taken by Coinbase over the listing XRP and the public statements they’ve made – it’s clear there is some bad blood there.
With that being the case, Coinbase was quick to throw Ripple and XRP under the bus due to the SEC lawsuit. Coinbase quickly delisted XRP from ALL their users (not just the U.S. clients) which is far beyond the conservative call of duty. People will suggest their excessive actions is simply to give them room from this lawsuit since they are about to IPO – nonsense. Anyone who has been in the crypto space long enough understands that Coinbase will never waste a good opportunity to step on Ripple’s neck.
The big twist is that Coinbase is now being sued for selling XRP. The plaintiffs in the suit are alleging Coinbase sold XRP as unregistered security’s and gained commissions on these sales. The lawsuit against Coinbase seeks unspecified compensatory damages, attorneys’ fees and other relief. The irony here is outstanding.
There are several questions that boil to the surface in light of this news, but two are very interested indeed:
1) Coinbase doesn’t like Ripple. They were likely happy to delist XRP under the SEC investigation of it possibly being a security. To save themselves will Coinbase have to argue in court that XRP is NOT a security?
2) Will Coinbase be forced to postpone its IPO due to this legal matter?
Both are a stick in the eye to Coinbase to say the least.
Anderson Kill and Stephen Palley (both involved in Coinbase) have made a statement regarding Coinbase legal issue, but twisted it in classic style:
I’d assess the risk here to Coinbase (and other exchanges) as quite a bit less than that from continuing to list an asset the SEC has targeted and face much more dangerous enforcement action risk
Now in fairness, this case seems spineless and without true teeth. Since Ripple and the SEC have yet to duke it out over if XRP is a security or not, it seems impossible for a case like this to get any traction at all.
For now, it seems like a lot of stones are being thrown in the crypto universe.
Here are some screenshots of the Coinbase lawsuit filing:
