Deaton believes the Coinbase IPO move prompted its decision to suspend the trading of XRP.
CryptoLaw founder attorney John E. Deaton has taken to Twitter to defend Coinbase’s decision to suspend XRP trading. In a short Twitter thread, attorney Deaton explained that Coinbase’s IPO (Initial Public Offering) in 2021 might have prompted its decision to suspend XRP trading on its platform.
Deaton made this known while responding to an opinion from Australian-based lawyer Bill Morgan, who noted that Coinbase’s decision to delist XRP might hurt the exchange’s fair notice defense.
Deaton Explains Why Coinbase Halted XRP Trading
According to the pro-XRP lawyer, Coinbase went public in April 2021, less than four months after the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) charged Ripple and two of its execs with offering unregistered securities in the form of XRP.
It bears mentioning that before Coinbase’s IPO, the San Francisco-based exchange had already suspended XRP trading on January 19, 2021. Attorney Deaton, who represents over 75K XRP holders in the SEC vs. Ripple lawsuit, stated that the leading crypto exchange needed the SEC’s approval to go public.
He added that the Securities and Exchange Commission may have strongly suggested that Coinbase suspends XRP trading before it would approve its request to go public.
“I have no doubt that the overwhelming advice (like 99% if not 100%) Coinbase received by regulatory compliance lawyers (and litigators) was to suspend and not interfere with the IPO,” said Deaton.
Deaton Reiterates His Support for XRP
The pro-XRP lawyer further addressed XRP community members who may seem disappointed with him for defending the exchange’s decision to suspend XRP trading. Deaton called on aggrieved XRP enthusiasts to recall that he filed the first Writ of Mandamus against the Securities and Exchange Commission in January 2021.
Deaton added that he called on top crypto exchanges like Kraken and Coinbase to join him and file a motion to intervene in the SEC vs. Ripple case. Coinbase later filed an amicus curiae brief supporting Ripple’s fair notice defense.
Deaton’s remark comes barely a month after he described Ripple and XRP as “regulatory sacrificial lambs.” Since Coinbase needed the SEC’s approval to go public, the exchange had to do everything possible to be in the good books of the regulator. This includes the exchange’s decision to halt XRP trading.
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