Kraken Unlikely to Revive Major Questions Defense Against SEC

Cryptocurrency platform Kraken during a court hearing Wednesday appeared unlikely to revive a key legal defense in its battle with the US Securities and Exchange Commission over whether it should have registered as a securities broker.

Judge William H. Orrick III said he had already determined in a prior ruling that Kraken couldn’t invoke the major questions doctrine, a legal principle that says agencies lack regulatory power over important economic issues unless Congress explicitly designated that authority.

The judge sitting for the US District Court for the Northern District of California had previously determined that the question of whether crypto ...