The U.S. SEC attempts to dismiss Kraken's three main defenses in the lawsuit

ChainCatcher news, according to CoinDesk, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has requested the Northern District of California to dismiss three defenses raised by Kraken against allegations of illegal activities on its cryptocurrency trading platform. In a motion submitted on November 5, the regulator rejected Kraken's claims regarding the ambiguity of securities laws and how they apply to virtual assets, as well as the assertion that the exchange did not receive fair notice indicating that its actions were considered violations of securities laws.

It also asked the court to dismiss Kraken's "major questions doctrine" defense. This doctrine is a legal principle established by the Supreme Court, which states that agencies cannot expand their regulatory authority without explicit congressional authorization.

In November 2023, the SEC sued Kraken for operating as an unregistered securities exchange, broker, dealer, and clearing agency. The SEC stated that it believes Kraken has illegally earned hundreds of millions of dollars by facilitating the buying and selling of crypto asset securities since September 2018. Kraken filed a motion to dismiss the case, which was denied in August.