Coinbase, after surviving a securities lawsuit with the US SEC, is facing a similar case in Oregon, but there is a twist: XRP was not listed as one.
American cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase has fallen within the radar of Oregon State authorities. It was accused of violating state securities laws by allowing the sale of unregistered digital assets, but XRP was not on the list. This comes just after the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) dismissed its unregistered securities lawsuit against the firm.
Is Oregon Lawsuit Against Coinbase Politically Instigated?
Attorney General Dan Rayfield filed the lawsuit, accusing the crypto exchange of failing to screen risky investments properly to protect consumers. According to Rayfield, the states are responsible for closing the enforcement gap created by federal agencies that are “giving up” and “abandoning these important cases.”
We finally got a copy of the Oregon AG complaint. If there were any doubt about the motivation behind it, look no further than section 9, where it 1) omits Judge Failla’s order granting interlocutory appeal of the @SECGov case; 2) omits any mention of Judge Torres’ decision in… pic.twitter.com/mIXxtQ7ojH
— paulgrewal.eth (@iampaulgrewal) April 18, 2025
Coinbase Chief Legal Officer Paul Grewal notified the crypto community on X that the Oregon Attorney General was “resurrecting the dead by bringing a copycat case of SEC’s enforcement action against Coinbase.”
One distinction in the Oregon lawsuit was the omission of Judge Torres’ decision in the Ripple lawsuit from December 2020.
Grewal pointed to Section 9 of the lawsuit, stating that the omissions are glaring and have a questionable motive. There is also no mention of Judge Failla’s decision to allow an interlocutory appeal in the SEC’s case. Grewal believes that the lawsuit may have been politically orchestrated. Furthermore, he criticized the involvement of two private law firms in drafting the lawsuit.
The Coinbase executive is not pleased with the complaint’s language, which refers to the new SEC chairman as a “crypto lobbyist” and condemns the reassignment of former SEC enforcement staff to other departments.
SEC Drops XRP Lawsuit Two Years After Judge Torres Ruled
Almost two years ago, Judge Analisa Torres ruled on XRP, citing that it is “not necessarily a security on its face.”
This statement caused an uproar, undermining the SEC’s argument that XRP is a security. Apart from the victory that it brought to Ripple, Judge Torres’ verdict marked a turning point for the broader crypto industry until Oregon’s lawsuit showed up.
Meanwhile, Ripple announced that the US SEC had officially dropped its class actions against the firm about a month ago.
The SEC’s decision to drop the case came suddenly, and this, together with internal personnel changes, including the reassignment of the Commission’s top crypto litigator, Jorge Tenreiro, is a sign of a broader shift in federal enforcement priorities.
Disclaimer: The information provided in this article is for informational purposes only. It does not constitute investment, financial, trading, or any other sort of advice. You should not treat any of BGECrypto’s content as such. BGEcrypto does not recommend that any cryptocurrency should be bought, sold, or held by you. Do your due diligence and consult your financial advisor before making any investment decisions.
