Court suspended the ruling in the SEC case against Coinbase pending appeal

Judge Katherine Failla accepted Coinbase's request to file an interlocutory appeal, citing different interpretations by the courts of what constitutes a security under the SEC's jurisdiction.

The cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase achieved a small victory in its civil case against the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) after a federal judge granted an order for an interlocutory appeal.

In a document filed on January 7 in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York, Judge Katherine Failla granted an appeal for an order that denied Coinbase's motion for a trial, filed in March 2024. Judge Failla ordered that all proceedings in the case be suspended until the Second Circuit ruled on an interlocutory appeal related to the order.

One of the crucial arguments in the SEC's case against Coinbase was the allegation that “certain transactions involving crypto assets qualified as investment contracts under the SEC's regulatory jurisdiction,” that is, as securities. Judge Failla noted that there was a “possibility of reversal” of her interpretation of investment contracts based on the Howey test, which is why she granted Coinbase's appeal.