U.S. regulators, not least of all the Securities and Exchange Commission, have taken an aggressive tack lately with the crypto industry. Amid the regulatory headwinds, Coinbase’s and Ripple’s top legal experts met to discuss pressing matters in the fast-growing crypto space.

The news of the meeting has prompted speculation about the U.S.’s largest and best-known exchange relisting Ripple’s cryptocurrency XRP.

Ripple And Coinbase Legal Officers Hang Out

The top lawyers from Ripple and Coinbase convened for a recent offsite meeting to discuss pressing concerns in the vibrant crypto landscape.

Coinbase’s chief legal officer, Paul Grewal, took to Twitter earlier today to express his appreciation to Ripple’s Stuart Alderoty for being invited to the meeting and suggested more meetings in the future. Alderoty then tweeted his gratitude to Grewal for taking the time to connect with the Ripple legal team.

Details of the meeting were sparse, but both Ripple and Coinbase are currently at an impasse with the U.S. SEC. Ripple Labs was sued back in December 2020 for allegedly selling unregistered securities in the form of XRP.

On the other hand, Coinbase — which has become the second-largest crypto exchange, trailing only Binance — was slapped with a Wells Notice by the SEC in March over potential violations of U.S. securities law. In a document last week, the San Francisco-headquartered platform pushed back against the SEC’s enforcement notice.

These two U.S.-based companies have often called for formal rulemaking within the crypto assets sector, which the watchdog agency has ignored and chosen regulation by enforcement instead. In recent months, the SEC has taken action against notable industry players, including digital asset exchanges Bittrex, Kraken, Gemini, crypto lender Genesis and individual actors such as Tron founder Justin Sun. 

But Will Coinbase Relist XRP?

Coinbase has previously requested the court for permission to file a friend of the court (“amicus”) brief in Ripple’s case with the SEC, arguing that the lawsuit threatens the broader industry. Grewal has also, in recent weeks, hailed the legal defense mounted by Ripple. 

Many XRP fans are once again suspecting that Coinbase could soon relist XRP on its platform following the offsite meeting, where the two chief legal officers are seen pictured in a close friendly pose.

Even if Grewal and Stuart’s body language indicates improving cordiality between Coinbase and Ripple, a relisting of XRP soon seems unlikely at this point. As ZyCrypto reported, Grewal pointed out in a recent interview with Tony Edward that a possible timeline for relisting depends on various factors.

At press time, XRP was changing hands at $$0.456461, a gain of 0.9% in the past day, according to CoinGecko.

---

Filed under: Bitcoin - @ May 4, 2023 7:44 pm