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Judge Katherine Failla granted Coinbase’s request for an interlocutory appeal, citing different courts’ interpretations of what constituted a security under the SEC’s purview.

Cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase won a small victory in its civil case against the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) after a federal judge granted an order for an interlocutory appeal.

In a Jan. 7 filing in the US District Court for the Southern District of New York, Judge Katherine Failla granted an appeal for an order denying Coinbase’s motion for judgment, which she filed in March 2024. Judge Failla ordered all proceedings in the case to be stayed until the Second Circuit ruled on an interlocutory appeal over the order.

One of the crucial arguments for the SEC’s case against Coinbase was alleging that “certain transactions involving crypto-assets qualified as investment contracts within the SEC’s regulatory purview,” i.e., as securities. Judge Failla said there was a “possibility of reversal” of her interpretation of investment contracts based on the Howey test, granting Coinbase’s appeal. 

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