Bill Morgan, a crypto enthusiast and lawyer, recently shared his comments on the Lummis Amicus brief, highlighting that the New York crypto lawyer Lewis Cohen’s work cited in the brief serves “great for crypto including XRP”. Morgan also added that the lawyer’s work cited is a strong pushback against the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).
Earlier today, Morgan took to X, earlier known as Twitter, to spot the significance of Cohen’s work cited in the Lummis Amicus brief in supporting the argument that the XRP token is not a security:
This part of the Lummis Amicus brief is so great for crypto including XRP. More pushback against the SEC & support for the argument the token is not the security. Should have cited the Torres decision as well as Lewis’ great work. The push back started with @JohnEDeaton1 2.5… https://t.co/xZQ4tKWXdr
— bill morgan (@Belisarius2020) August 11, 2023
On August 11, US Senator Cynthia Lummis filed an amicus brief in support of the leading crypto exchange Coinbase’s motion that intended to dismiss the regulator’s lawsuit against the platform. Lummis pointed out that the SEC’s primary focus is to obtain control over the crypto sector while Congress takes utmost efforts to regulate crypto, “an area of profound economic and political significance”.
Meanwhile, Morgan shared the screenshot of Cohen’s work cited, appreciating him for his “excellent” words:
@NYcryptolawyer you and your excellent work cited in the Lummis amicus brief in the @coinbase motion to dismiss. Well done sir. pic.twitter.com/uQ1SWn6Do7
— bill morgan (@Belisarius2020) August 11, 2023
Notably, the document stated that the commission attempted to control the crypto space by entitling them as securities, which marks a “departure from the existing definition of a ‘security’ established by Congress”. The brief also added that the same SEC had once stated that Congress is the only authority that could address crypto regulation.
Pointing out the SEC’s altered attitude towards crypto regulation, the brief asserted that the SEC’s reliance upon the Howey test to categorize crypto assets into securities is “an unprecedented use of the Howey test. The statement cited:
The SEC’s novel attempt to use Howey to construe that a non-security asset itself is an “investment contract”—even when traded in secondary markets where it carries with it to the purchaser no legal relationship to any issuer—would be unprecedented in the decades-long history of Howey.
In his recent tweet, Morgan opined that the lawyer could have added citations on Judge Analisa Torres’ decision on XRP as not a security. He also added that the stark criticism against the regulators has started with the XRP attorney John Deaton, who always stands firm with Ripple’s XRP.
