Legal scholars file amicus brief in support of Coinbase

A group of six legal scholars specializing in securities law and related fields submitted an amicus brief in favor of crypto exchange Coinbase in its ongoing legal fight versus the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). An amicus brief is a document submitted in court by a party not straight involved with the associated case. It is usually utilized to include supporting arguments to one side of the claim and emphasizes how the case will have a broader impact beyond the involved parties.The group of legal scholars filed the amicus short in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York on Aug. 11. Screenshot of the amicus short. Source: CourtListenerOn the exact same day, Senator Cynthia Lummis likewise submitted an amicus quick in support of the crypto exchange.The scholars behind the filing are Stephen Bainbridge of the University of California, Los Angeles; Tamar Frankel of Boston University School of Law; Sean Griffith of Fordham University School of Law; Lawrence Hamermesh of Widener University, Delaware Law School; Matthew Henderson of the University of Chicago Law School; and Jonathan Macey from Yale Law School.Related: SEC punts on ARK 21Shares area Bitcoin ETF, opens proposal to commentsIn their filing, the legal scholars competed that federal precedents and the Howey test acknowledge that investment contracts require anticipation of company earnings, earnings or possessions. The group has actually asked the court to adhere to the established legal definition of “financial investment contract” when interpreting its scope:”An investor needs to be assured, by virtue of his or her financial investment, an ongoing contractual interest in the income, earnings, or properties of the enterprise. In this section, we talk about some of these cases.”The legal scholars clarified that their associations with universities or law schools are irrelevant to their participation with the amicus brief.Magazine: Crypto policy: Does SEC Chair Gary Gensler have the last word?