Just days before Coinbase launched CFTC-regulated XRP futures on its U.S. derivatives platform, the Oregon Attorney General filed a lawsuit against the company, claiming that 31 cryptocurrencies sold on Coinbase — including XRP, UNI, LINK, AAVE, and MKR — are unregistered securities.
This lawsuit goes way further than the SEC’s original complaint, which listed 13 tokens. The Oregon case expands that number to 31, calling them “crypto securities” and alleging they were offered and sold as investment contracts through Coinbase and Coinbase Prime.
What’s raising eyebrows is the inclusion of XRP, especially since Coinbase delisted the token shortly after the SEC sued Ripple in December 2020, and didn’t relist it until after the July 2023 summary judgment from Judge Torres. In that ruling, Judge Torres stated that XRP itself is not a security, a key detail the Oregon complaint does not appear to acknowledge.
This legal action arrives at a pivotal time for Coinbase, as the exchange recently launched XRP futures trading for U.S. customers through its CFTC-regulated derivatives platform on April 21, hinting at renewed confidence in the regulatory status of the token.
The lawsuit has sparked fresh debate over the legal classification of digital assets in the U.S., as regulators and state officials continue to take different positions on what defines a security in the crypto space.
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