Jason Gottlieb Quoted in Forbes on Possibility of Supreme Court Hindering SEC’s Authority over Crypto Markets

Jason Gottlieb, partner in Morrison Cohen’s Business Litigation Department and chair of the White Collar and Regulatory Enforcement Group and Digital Assets Group, was quoted in a July 1, 2022 Forbes article entitled “The Supreme Court’s Wrecking Ball Could Impact SEC Authority.” The article explored how several recent decisions from the U.S. Supreme Court could impact the future of the SEC’s authority to regulate crypto markets.

In the article, Jason discussed what may happen if the recent lawsuit brought by the SEC against Ripple for failing to register the company’s sale of XRP as a security reaches the U.S. Supreme Court. Jason indicated that if the suit were to be heard by the Supreme Court, the Court might narrowly interpret the standard by which the SEC has historically determined what types of financial instruments were subject to the SEC’s regulatory authority. Jason stated, “If the case goes all the way to the Supreme Court, there could be a frontal assault on Howey [the seminal case that defined a “security” under the federal securities laws] – like what happened to Roe v. Wade.”

Or, Jason suggested that the Court could invoke the “major question” doctrine outlined in the recent West Virginia v. EPA decision. Jason stated, “If the Court determined that the question in Ripple is not whether XRP is a security, but instead, ‘Does the SEC have the authority to set policy for the future of finance,’ it would certainly find that to be a ‘major question,’” which could gut the SEC’s enforcement powers.

Read the Forbes article here.