Court Gives SEC 10-day Deadline to Respond to Coinbase

US Third Circuit grants Coinbase’s request for a response from the SEC on its rulemaking petition

article-image

Sergii Gnatiuk/Shutterstock, modified by Blockworks

share

The Securities and Exchange Commission has just 10 days to respond to Coinbase’s rulemaking petition.

Coinbase took the SEC to court last week, demanding a response to a request from July 2022. They want the agency to come up with some clear rules on which digital assets are securities and how securities laws would apply to digital assets.

The exchange contends that the US lacks a well-defined and practical system to ensure the crypto market’s seamless operation. But the SEC failed to respond to Coinbase’s petition, the company claims.

“It is unreasonable for the SEC — an agency with over 4,500 employees — to take nine months (and counting) to complete that simple task,” Coinbase said in a federal court filing dated April 24.

But with the court’s ruling, the agency could finally be forced to respond. 

A text-only order — an electronic case docket entry with no attachment — issued Wednesday stated: “[SEC] is ordered to file an answer to the petition for writ of mandamus within 10 days of the date of this order.” An SEC spokesperson declined to comment.

Source: General Docket, Third Circuit Court of Appeals

Paul Grewal, Coinbase’s chief legal officer, tweeted that the exchange appreciated the court’s meticulous evaluation of the matter. 

It’s not just Coinbase that has sought clarity from the SEC. Despite repeated requests from the industry and policymakers, the agency has failed to provide clarity and guidance on whether digital assets are securities are not. 

While Chair Gary Gensler has said he believes “everything else other than bitcoin is a security,” the Commission itself hasn’t codified this position in regulations. Gensler has simply urged developers and platforms to register or face enforcement actions.


Get the news in your inbox. Explore Blockworks newsletters:

Tags

Decoding crypto and the markets. Daily, with Byron Gilliam.

Upcoming Events

Old Billingsgate

Mon - Wed, October 13 - 15, 2025

Blockworks’ Digital Asset Summit (DAS) will feature conversations between the builders, allocators, and legislators who will shape the trajectory of the digital asset ecosystem in the US and abroad.

recent research

Research Report Templates.jpg

Research

Figure, founded by former SoFi CEO Mike Cagney, has emerged as a leader in onchain RWAs, with ~$17.5B publicly tokenized. The platform’s ecosystem volume is growing ~40% YoY as it expands beyond HELOCs into student loans, DSCR loans, unsecured loans, bankruptcy claims, and more. Operationally, Figure cuts average loan production cost by ~93% and compresses median funding time from ~42 days to ~10, creating a durable speed-and-cost advantage.

article-image

The Ethereum co-founder suggested LINEA holders would be eligible for other airdrops in cryptic tweet

article-image

The layer-2’s biggest release yet brings benefits — but a post-upgrade outage caused a chain reorg

article-image

Crypto is shifting into risk-on mode — pump.fun dominates meme activity, while Lido leans on treasury maneuvers

article-image

If the president breaks the Fed, he’ll own the budget problems

article-image

Combining Franklin Templeton’s tokenization expertise with Binance’s trading infrastructure could speed crypto adoption, companies say

article-image

The firm’s upcoming filing comes as competition heats up over the USDH stablecoin