Oregon’s explosive legal assault on Coinbase reignites the regulatory war on crypto

This includes, but is not limited to, the units of each of the crypto securities further described below with trading symbols AAVE, ADA, ALGO, AMP, APE

Regulators in Oregon have expanded the legal assault on crypto firms, taking direct aim at Coinbase for allegedly enabling the unlawful trading of 31 crypto tokens.

The complaint, filed on April 19 by Oregon officials, claims that Coinbase’s main trading platform and its Prime service allowed users in the state to buy and sell dozens of tokens that Oregon considers to be unregistered securities.

The filing names 31 crypto tokens, prompting commentary from crypto policy experts on the case’s breadth. Justin Slaughter, vice president of regulatory affairs at Paradigm and former senior adviser at the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and chief policy adviser at the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), noted the vast number of tokens covered.

“The Oregon AG suit … actually covers many more tokens than the SEC complaint did, with 31 tokens claimed to be unregistered securities, including UNI, AAVE, FLOW, LINK, MKR, and even XRP,” he stated on social media platform X on April 21.

The legal complaint asserts that Coinbase violated state securities laws by offering and facilitating the trading of these tokens without proper registration.

“Coinbase—through the Coinbase Platform and Prime—has made available for trading in Oregon crypto assets that are offered and sold as investment contracts, and thus as securities,” reads the complaint.

It further alleges: “Coinbase has participated or materially aided in the purchase or sale of unregistered crypto securities by Oregon customers.”

These assets were allegedly bought and sold for U.S. dollars, other fiat currencies, and cryptocurrencies, with consistent pricing across platforms.

As described in the complaint: “Each unit of a particular crypto asset on the Coinbase Platform, or made available through Prime, including but not limited to each of the crypto securities, trades at the same price as another unit of that same asset.”

The Oregon complaint includes a detailed list of tokens that Oregon considers to be unregistered securities. It states:

This includes, but is not limited to, the units of each of the crypto securities further described below with trading symbols AAVE, ADA, ALGO, AMP, APE, ATOM, AVAX, AXS, CHZ, COMP, DASH, DDX, EOS, FIL, FLOW, ICP, LCX, LINK, MATIC, MIR, MKR, NEAR, POWR, RLY, SAND, SOL, UNI, VGX, wLUNA, XRP, and XYO (the ‘crypto securities’).

The SEC has dropped its lawsuits against both Coinbase and Ripple Labs, signaling a shift in regulatory approach.

The SEC’s case against Coinbase, which began in June 2023 with allegations of operating as an unregistered securities exchange, was dismissed without any fines or changes to Coinbase’s business model.

Similarly, the long-standing lawsuit against Ripple, which began in December 2020 and centered on the classification of XRP as an unregistered security, concluded in March 2025, with the SEC dropping its appeal following a partial court victory for Ripple in 2023.

As state-level actions increasingly target crypto firms, many in the industry are calling for consistent federal legislation to avoid a fragmented regulatory landscape that could hinder innovation and growth.