Oregon Slams Coinbase (COIN) with a New XRP Lawsuit Just as the Token Catches a Break

Days after Coinbase (COIN) listed XRP futures on its platform, Oregon’s top legal enforcer came swinging with a fresh lawsuit.

Days after Coinbase (NASDAQ:COIN) announced the listing of XRP futures on its platform, Oregon’s attorney general has targeted the exchange with a lawsuit.

On April 18, the Oregon Department of Justice said its top legal enforcer, Dan Rayfield, filed a lawsuit against Coinbase for allegedly offering XRP and 30 other tokens as unregistered securities.

The lawsuit is part of a broader effort by the DOJ to fill the “enforcement vacuum being left by federal regulators under the Trump administration,” the statement noted.

The complaint names a variety of assets, including Aave (CRYPTO: AAVE), Avalanche (CRYPTO: AVAX), Uniswap (CRYPTO: UNI), Near Protocol (CRYPTO: NEAR), and even wLUNA, as securities. However, it doesn't specify the criteria used to select the 30 tokens or explain why some of the wrapped assets were included while others weren't.

"This ruling, while useful in the sense that it acknowledges the existence of a relevant administrative law decision by the SEC in the case of XRP, will mostly create more confusion," said Yarden Noy, partner at DLT Law.

Even if XRP is ruled a security in this case, the decision wouldn't bind courts in other states or even other Oregon cases, Noy added.

The lawsuit follows a years-long standoff between Ripple Labs (NYSE:PYPL) and the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission over the fate of XRP. The SEC lawsuit, which accused Ripple of running a $1.3 billion unregistered securities offering, finally came to an end in late March with the agency walking away from the case.

The case, which ultimately ended in a bit of a mess, left more questions than answers. Now, Oregon appears to be continuing the legal saga with a lawsuit of its own that seemingly disregards the SEC ruling.

According to Justin Slaughter, a policy analyst at Paradigm, the case reads like a "kitchen sink lawsuit" with every argument and token being thrown at the wall to see what sticks.

The timing of the lawsuit is also interesting to note as Coinbase announced the launch of XRP futures on April 21, finally giving the token some institutional traction.

However, the lawsuit threatens to drag XRP back into the realm of uncertainty. The result might be a loss of confidence for those investing in the token.

While the ruling might be relevant for cases in Oregon, don't expect to see a sweeping precedent, Noy added. The suit also adds fuel to the messy debate over whether cryptocurrencies should be regulated as securities or not, a discussion that seems set to continue for some time.

At the time of writing, XRP is trading at $2.15.