Today, March 27, a court hearing was held in the case of the American crypto platform Coinbase. The US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) accused the platform of unregistered activities and illegal offering of securities.

Partial victory

The Manhattan court's decision partially supported Coinbase's position, rejecting the SEC lawsuit regarding the exchange's crypto wallet. Judge Katherine Polk Failla did not accept the regulator's assertion regarding the wallet's unregistered status.

The commission alleged that Coinbase Wallet is an unregistered broker. However, the latest court decision confirms the wallet's compliance with existing legislation and its right to operate. An exchange service that does not store user assets is no longer subject to consideration.

Two defeats

However, on two other aspects of the case, the court found merit in the SEC's arguments. Future court hearings will address Coinbase's registration as a securities company.

“The Court finds that, given the strength of the SEC's substantive allegations regarding Coinbase's unregistered activities as a securities intermediary, Defendants' motion to dismiss the charges should be denied,” court documents state.

In addition, the judge also recognized the regulator’s arguments regarding the Coinbase staking program as valid. According to Katherine Failla, the crypto exchange conducted an unregistered offer and sale of securities through this program.

Both sides must submit a “proposed process plan” by April 19.

The SEC filed a lawsuit against Coinbase last June. The lawsuit alleged that the platform traded at least 13 crypto assets that were required to be registered as securities with the Commission. Among them are Solana (SOL), Cardano (ADA), Polygon (MATIC) and others.

Bitcoin reaction

Following news that the court rejected the SEC's lawsuit regarding the Coinbase wallet, the Bitcoin (BTC) rate temporarily rose to $71,528. However, after reports of a possible continuation of the case against the exchange, the rate of the first cryptocurrency sharply decreased to $68,650.

According to CoinGecko, at the time of writing, the price of Bitcoin has adjusted to $69,970