Crypto exchange Coinbase has requested permission from a federal court to file a friend-of-the-court brief in the ongoing dispute between the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and Ripple Labs.
The discussion focused on whether the SEC offered "fair notice" before commencing its enforcement action, a dig at a common industry criticism that the regulator has not provided clear direction to businesses in the process.
A friend-of-the-court brief, also known as an amicus brief, is a legal document that contains advice or information about a court case from a non-party to the case.
"Given the absence of SEC rulemaking for the cryptocurrency industry, the question of whether the SEC has given fair notice before bringing an enforcement action against sales of one of the thousands of unique digital assets will often be highly fact-intensive, which makes it particularly ill-suited for adjudication on summary judgment," Coinbase's filing said.
In a similar vein, Coinbase said that the SEC's inconsistent enforcement strategy has caused "uncertainty" for companies operating in the industry.
"Ripple and others have been the subject of extensive enforcement scrutiny while others - with nearly identical products or services - have apparently been subject to none," the Coinbase filing said.
This defense and the stance that the regulator hasn't undertaken any rulemaking that would "provide the regulatory clarity" businesses desire take up a large portion of the petition.
In addition, the filing attacked the claim that cryptocurrencies might be handled as conventional securities, claiming that the majority of cryptocurrencies do not represent ownership stakes or pay dividends in the same manner that shares might.
Additionally, on the same day as the filing, cryptocurrency attorney John Deaton submitted a motion to submit an amicus brief on behalf of the XRP "decentralized community."
It also comes just days after the Blockchain Association, a crypto advocacy group, expressed its support for Ripple on Oct. 28 by announcing the filing of its ow amicus brief, stressing that SEC chairman Gary Gensler's views on securities rules might have "devastating effects" on the field.
Ripple Labs has been embroiled in a nearly two-year legal battle with the SEC, which considers the sale of its Ripple (XRP) tokens to be unregistered securities sales.
On an Oct. 11 session at DC Fintech Week, Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse stated that the case could be resolved by the middle of 2023, but that a specific conclusion date would be difficult to predict.
