Kraken Joins Binance, Coinbase Seeking Dismissal of SEC’s Lawsuit

Suvashree Ghosh, Bloomberg News

The Kraken logo on a laptop computer arranged in Hastings-on-Hudson, New York, US, on Friday, Feb. 10, 2023. Kraken will pay $30 million to settle Securities and Exchange Commission allegations that it broke the agency’s rules with its cryptoasset staking products and will discontinue them in the US as part of the agreement with the regulator. Photographer: Tiffany Hagler-Geard/Bloomberg , Bloomberg

(Bloomberg) -- Crypto exchange Kraken has filed to dismiss the Securities and Exchange Commission’s lawsuit against the firm in a US court, joining peers who have filed similar petitions.

The SEC had alleged that Kraken was running an unregistered exchange and co-mingled customer assets with its own and at times paid expenses from bank accounts that held customer cash.

“The SEC does not have the authority to regulate all speculative investments,” Kraken argued in its motion to dismiss. The SEC’s complaint didn’t claim any fraud or consumer harm, the firm said in a blog post.

Kraken’s move follows its peers including Binance Holdings Ltd., Binance.US and Coinbase Global Inc. who have filed similar petitions.

Read: SEC Accuses Crypto’s Kraken of Running Unregistered Exchange

The SEC declined to comment beyond the public filings, a spokesperson said.

(Adds that the SEC declined to comment.)