Paul Grewal, the chief legal officer at Coinbase, recently tweeted about the extraordinary remarks made by bankruptcy judge Michael Wiles regarding the Voyager Digital ruling.
Everyone committed to the rule of law should read J. Wiles' Voyager decision. These are remarkable statements from a federal court with no skin in the game other than calling things as they are.🧵⬇️ /www.nysb.uscourts.gov/sites/default/files/opinions/312840_1170_opinion.pdf
— paulgrewal.eth (@iampaulgrewal) March 15, 2023
The Coinbase CLO emphasized a statement from Judge Wiles: "Grewal acknowledged Judge Wiles as someone with "no skin in the game other than calling things like they are."
"There are firms that operate as cryptocurrency brokers or exchanges, and have done so for several years, without being subject to clear and well-defined regulatory requirements."
Grewal also posted a statement from Judge Wiles in which he said that regulators themselves are unable to agree on whether cryptocurrencies are securities that fall under the SEC's jurisdiction or commodities that should be regulated by the CFTC. Judge Wiles also stated that regulators are unsure of what standards to use when deciding whether or not to regulate cryptocurrencies.
Judge Wiles further emphasized that despite the fact that bitcoin exchanges have been operating for a long time, this ambiguity has persisted.
CryptoLaw founder John E Deaton also commented on Grewal’s tweet. Deaton stated that the SEC is losing in court against Ripple. He also added that the judges will call the SEC out due to their inconsistent statements and behavior.
The community, including several lawyers, applauded Judge Wiles’s decision. Some even stated that the decision comes from a judge who truly gets the big picture. The SEC has been long eyeing the cryptocurrency realm. Gensler had also recently remarked that all cryptocurrencies except Bitcoin are securities. Judge Wiles’s recent decision has also been receiving positive responses from the cryptocurrency community.
