Major Legal Complaint Targets Coinbase for Selling Unregistered Securities
Recently, nearly 31 cryptocurrencies have found themselves embroiled in a legal complaint directed at the prominent cryptocurrency exchange, Coinbase.
Oregon Attorney General Dan Rayfield took action over the weekend by filing a complaint against Coinbase, alleging that the exchange sold unregistered securities to residents of Oregon. This state-level lawsuit comes on the heels of the SEC’s decision to drop its lawsuit against Coinbase earlier this year, signaling a shift in regulatory tactics.
This lawsuit has garnered significant attention due to its expansive reach. Justin Slaughter, a former SEC Senior Adviser and Chief Policy Adviser at CFTC, noted that the Oregon AG’s complaint goes beyond the SEC’s previous case against Coinbase. To put it into perspective, the SEC lawsuit targeted 13 cryptocurrencies, whereas the Oregon lawsuit now encompasses a staggering 31 tokens.
According to Slaughter’s tweet, “More to come, but one thing that jumps out about the Oregon AG suit is it actually covers many more tokens than the SEC complaint did, with 31 tokens claimed to be unregistered securities, including UNI, AAVE, FLOW, LINK, MKR, and even XRP. It’s a true kitchen sink lawsuit.”
XRP, SOL, whatever: basically no matter your asset or project, OR AG @DanRayfield has accused you of violating securities laws and fleecing your token holders. It’s why we notified about 560k @coinbase customers in Oregon about the unlawful action taken in their name. https://t.co/FX9UQooQ5B
— paulgrewal.eth (@iampaulgrewal) April 21, 2025
In response to these developments, Coinbase’s Chief Legal Officer, Paul Grewal, emphasized the wide-ranging implications of the case, wherein crypto assets are being classified as “crypto securities.”
31 Cryptocurrencies Impacted
The lawsuit alleges that Coinbase facilitated the trading of crypto assets in Oregon through the Coinbase Platform and Coinbase Prime, presenting these assets as investment contracts and thereby deeming them securities.
The complaint specifically names 31 cryptocurrencies, including AAVE, ADA, ALGO, AMP, APE, ATOM, AVAX, AXS, CHZ, COMP, DAS, DDX, EOS, FIL, FLOW, ICP, LCX, LINK, MATIC, MIR, MKR, NEAR, POWR, RLY, SAND, SOL, UNI, VGX, wLUNA, XRP, and XYO. These crypto assets are said to include units of each cryptocurrency security described.
Grewal further underscored this point in his tweet: “XRP, SOL, whatever: basically no matter your asset or project, Oregon AG Dan Rayfield has accused you of violating securities laws and fleecing your token holders. It’s why we notified about 560,000 Coinbase customers in Oregon about the unlawful action taken in their name.”