Former Coinbase Product Manager Ishan Wahi has urged the court to dismiss insider trading charges against him — claiming that the U.S. Securities Exchange Commission (SEC) lacks the authority to classify tokens as securities.

The SEC arrested Ishan Wahi and his brother Nikhil Wahi in July 2022 for insider trading charges —alleging that the brothers made roughly $1.5 million in profit by leveraging insider information to trade securities on the Coinbase platform.

So far, Nikhil has pleaded guilty to the charges and is facing a 10 months jail term. Ishan has pleaded not guilty, claiming that the SEC was wrong in its classifications of securities.

Tokens not investment contracts

Lawyers representing Ishan filed a motion on Feb. 6 to argue that the assets involved in the case are not …