The U.S. SEC (Securities and Exchange Commission) seems to be on a crusade to bring down some of the biggest entities within the crypto industry. The agency filed two lawsuits against Binance and Coinbase on June 5 and 6, respectively.
Considering the developments, John Deaton, an attorney for XRP holders, is taking action to allow him to represent users of these two exchanges as well. Deaton will file an amicus brief on behalf of Binance and Coinbase users. The attorney has shared a Google Doc on Twitter, where users can fill in their details. If a user cannot access the form, they can directly contact Deaton’s office. Deaton made a name for himself in the ongoing SEC vs Ripple lawsuit. The attorney represents around 75,000 XRP holders.
As I did in the Ripple case, I have a Google form to establish a putative class of customers and crypto account holders who use these platforms. If there’s interest, we can ask to participate and possibly be granted amicus status in an effort to make sure our voices are heard.
— John E Deaton (@JohnEDeaton1) June 9, 2023
Deaton stated that he would not be working with or against Binance and Coinbase. Furthermore, he emphasized that the SEC’s decision to withdraw its support for Coinbase’s IPO more than two years after it was approved is proof that the market regulator is not acting in the interests of the platform’s consumers.
Additionally, Deaton doesn’t anticipate the two exchanges to openly protect their clients, instead concentrating on their own offerings.
With the SEC going after Binance & Coinbase, is the Ripple case more important than ever?
The Ripple case will undoubtedly have an impact on the two most recent lawsuits. This is even regardless of whether XRP is determined to be a security or not. The judges overseeing the legal actions against Coinbase and Binance will probably closely monitor the outcome of the SEC v. Ripple case.
6/ This dynamic, of course, works both ways.
— MetaLawMan (@MetaLawMan) June 8, 2023
If Judge Torres rules that $XRP tokens traded on secondary markets ARE securities,
the SEC will jump for joy and argue that the judges presiding over the @Coinbase and @Binance cases should follow Judge Torres' reasoning.
If Ripple wins, the SEC’s case against both Coinbase and Binance might be completely overturned. However, the judges in the Binance and Coinbase suits are not bound to rule in the same way as the Ripple suit.