California Judge Puts the Kibosh on Kraken’s Interlocutory Appeal Attempt

A California decide denied Kraken’s movement for abstract judgment, saying in a Monday choice that permitting an attraction would solely delay the decision of the U.S. Securities and Trade Fee’s (SEC) ongoing case in opposition to the crypto trade “delay”.

Kraken, the second-largest crypto trade within the US, filed a movement for abstract judgment (a kind of attraction that challenges a decide’s non-final choice whereas permitting different facets of a case to proceed) in September, a month after Decide William Orrick of the US District Court docket for the Northern District of California dominated that the SEC had plausibly alleged that the cryptocurrencies bought on Kraken’s platform could also be securities underneath the Howey Check.

Of their September movement, Kraken’s attorneys argued that Orrick ought to permit them to attraction his choice to the next court docket, arguing that Orrick’s order “means[d] a controlling query of legislation on which there’s a considerable foundation for disagreement” and that “a right away attraction… could materially additional the termination of the proceedings.”

However Orrick was unmoved, sharply reminding Kraken’s attorneys in his Monday ruling that granting a movement for abstract judgment is “completely discretionary” and rejecting their speculation that an attraction may expedite the case.

“Essentially, I don’t consider that certification will materially advance the final word termination of the lawsuit,” Orrick wrote. “Though the SEC has plausibly asserted its concept of securities violations in opposition to Kraken, solely discovery can decide whether or not the gross sales, transactions and exchanges on Kraken really met all the Howey parts… A full report is critical to reply these questions. Certification at this stage would solely delay the answer.”

The SEC sued Kraken final November for allegedly working as an unregistered securities trade, dealer, supplier and clearinghouse, looking for disgorgement and civil penalties in addition to everlasting injunctions in opposition to the crypto trade. Kraken denied any wrongdoing and sought to dismiss the case, however the movement was denied in August.