Oregon targets Coinbase over 31 unregistered crypto securities, including XRP, intensifying regulatory tensions - IcoHolder.

In a new legal development that has added complexity to the cryptocurrency landscape, the Oregon Attorney General has filed a lawsuit against Coinbase, accusing the company of selling 31 unregistered securities. This includes high-profile tokens such as XRP, UNI, LINK, AAVE, and MKR. The case marks a significant escalation from the Securities and Exchange Commission’s (SEC) original complaint, which only involved 13 tokens.

The lawsuit claims that these 31 cryptocurrencies were offered as investment contracts through Coinbase and its platform Coinbase Prime, effectively classifying them as “crypto securities.” This case has gained particular attention due to the inclusion of XRP, which has been at the center of a long-running debate over its status as a security. Notably, Coinbase had delisted XRP following the SEC’s lawsuit against Ripple in December 2020, only to relist it after a July 2023 ruling by Judge Torres, which concluded that XRP itself is not a security. The Oregon complaint, however, does not seem to take this ruling into account.

The timing of the lawsuit is striking, as it comes just days before Coinbase is set to launch XRP futures trading on its CFTC-regulated derivatives platform. The move, which is seen as a sign of renewed confidence in XRP's regulatory standing, has added fuel to ongoing debates regarding the classification of digital assets. This lawsuit further intensifies the ongoing struggle between regulators and state officials over how cryptocurrencies should be defined within the U.S. legal framework.