Steven Lee Quoted in Law360 Article About SEC's Lawsuit Against Coinbase

Atlanta, Ga. (June 6, 2023) – Atlanta Partner Steven H. Lee recently spoke with Law360 about the recent U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) lawsuit filed against Coinbase, the largest cryptocurrency exchange in the country.

As the article, titled "SEC Sues Coinbase In Escalation Of Crypto Crackdown," explains, the lawsuit comes on the heels of the SEC suing crypto platform Binance and its founder. It alleges that Coinbase failed to register with the SEC as a broker, depriving investors of federal protections and regulations. According to the article, the head of the SEC Enforcement Division said that Coinbase was aware of the application of federal securities laws, but deliberately chose to not follow them.

According to Mr. Lee, this crackdown on crypto exchanges like Binance and Coinbase could lead to the SEC spurring the "courts to provide clarity on whether cryptocurrency should be treated as securities under the law.”

"If the SEC is successful, cryptocurrency exchanges will be unable to operate within the United States without SEC approval or new legislation from Congress,” Mr. Lee told Law360.

Mr. Lee serves as vice chair of Lewis Brisbois’ Government Investigations & White Collar Defense Practice. As a former federal prosecutor, he focuses his practice on government and internal corporate investigations and complex litigation matters. He regularly provides comment to the legal press on current white collar cases, including the case against defunct cryptocurrency exchange FTX and the Illinois ComEd corruption case.

Read the full Law360 article here (subscription may be required).