SEC to present response to Coinbase’s legal defense on July 13

The United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) will present its response to Coinbase’s first legal defense on July 13, according to a court order issued on Thursday, June 29.

In a legal document filing, the SEC submitted a request to the court for a three-business-day extension. This extension was sought to provide the SEC adequate time to prepare a response to the letter submitted by Coinbase, the defendant. The defendants have agreed to the request.

The previous deadline for the SEC to file its response to Coinbase’s letter was July 3, 2023, according to Rule 4(A) of the court’s individual rules. However, Judge Katherine Polk Failla approved the SEC’s request for more time and set the new date of July 13.

In addition, the court rescheduled the pre-trial conference to a pre-motion conference, bringing it forward to July 13 at 2:00 pm UTC instead of its original date of Aug 24. A pre-motion conference is a request presented by the prosecutor or defense attorney to the court seeking a ruling on a specific matter prior to the trial.

In the meantime, Coinbase recently filed a letter to the court dated June 28, 2023, requesting leave to file a motion for judgment on the pleadings under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 12(c). This motion was filed in response to the SEC’s complaint. Earlier, Coinbase had also filed a 177-page answer to the complaint 40 days before the deadline of Aug. 7.

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In the context of a motion for judgment on the pleadings, it is important to note that a judge has the authority to review additional pleadings submitted in the case, including the defendant’s answer to the complaint. In Coinbase’s answer, it included a comprehensive “Preliminary Statement” outlining its legal arguments for the dismissal of the case, thereby providing the judge with substantial material to consider.

Coinbase has countered the SEC’s complaint by asserting that a significant number of the tokens mentioned in the SEC’s case are beyond the scope of the commission’s jurisdiction.

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