BakerHostetler Team Files Amicus Brief Against SEC by The Digital Chamber

A team of BakerHostetler attorneys filed an amicus brief on July 10, 2024, at the U.S. District Court, Northern District of Texas on behalf of The Digital Chamber (TDC) in support of Lejilex and the Crypto Freedom Alliance against the Securities and Exchange Commission. TDC, a not-for-profit trade association that promotes the acceptance and use of digital assets and blockchain-based technologies, states that the SEC's expansive view of its jurisdiction is a threat to the growth and innovation of the U.S. digital asset industry. It also alleges that securities law is a poor fit for the crypto industry and is impossible to apply to crypto transactions.

The brief provides an extraordinary deep dive into the historical, textual and traditional meaning of an investment contract and the intent of the drafters of the securities laws from the 1930's. The brief also approaches the major question doctrine from a distinct perspective that focuses on the magnitude of the assertion over the regulatory power, not only the size of the market.

Contributors included Partners Teresa Goody Guillén, Andrew Grossman, Kevin Edgar, Gerald Ferguson, Jonathan Forman, Nicholas Mowbray and Joanna Wasick, Counsel Isabelle Sterling and Associates Devin Haymond, Christopher Lamb, Ambika Singhal and Alexandra Trujillo.