Case 6:24-cv-00197-ADA Document 58 Filed 08/22/24 Page 1 of 5
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`UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
`WESTERN DISTRICT OF TEXAS
`WACO DIVISION
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`Case No. 6:24-cv-00197-ADA
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`ERIK DAVIDSON, JOHN RESTIVO, and NATIONAL
`CENTER FOR PUBLIC POLICY RESEARCH,
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`Plaintiffs,
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`GARY GENSLER, U.S. SECURITIES AND
`EXCHANGE COMMISSION, and CONSOLIDATED
`AUDIT TRAIL, LLC,
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`Defendants.
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`UNOPPOSED MOTION OF BLOCKCHAIN ASSOCIATION AND DEFI EDUCATION
`FUND FOR LEAVE TO FILE AMICUS CURIAE BRIEF
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`Case 6:24-cv-00197-ADA Document 58 Filed 08/22/24 Page 2 of 5
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`Blockchain Association (the “Association”) and DeFi Education Fund (“DEF”)
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`respectfully seek leave to file the attached amicus curiae brief in support of Plaintiffs Erik
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`Davidson, John Restivo, and National Center for Public Policy Research’s (collectively,
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`“Plaintiffs”) oppositions to the motions to dismiss by Defendant Consolidated Audit Trail, LLC
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`(ECF No. 38) and Defendants Gary Gensler and the Securities and Exchange Commission (ECF
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`No. 39), and in further support of Plaintiffs’ motion for a preliminary injunction and stay pursuant
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`to 5 U.S.C. § 705 (ECF No. 25). The proposed amicus brief sets forth the Association and DEF’s
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`interest in the outcome in the litigation. Pursuant to Local Rule 7(g), the Association and DEF
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`represent that they have contacted counsel for both Plaintiffs and Defendants and that no party
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`opposed the filing of the attached amicus brief.
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`Although there is no Federal Rule of Civil Procedure or Local Rule that controls motions
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`to file amicus briefs in this Court, this Court has discretion to grant such a motion where the
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`“information offered in the amicus brief is timely or useful.” Canamar v. McMillin Tex. Mgmt.
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`Servs., LLC, 2009 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 108986, at *2 (W.D. Tex. Nov. 20, 2009).
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`The Association and DEF easily meet these criteria. The Association is the leading
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`membership organization dedicated to promoting a pro-innovation policy environment for the
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`digital asset economy and DEF is a nonpartisan nonprofit organization that advocates for and
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`educates about sound policy for decentralized finance. Their proposed amicus seeks to provide
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`the Court with unique insight regarding the likely impact of the Consolidated Audit Trail (“CAT”)
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`on the digital asset industry.
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`The Association and DEF do not seek to duplicate Plaintiffs’ papers, which focus on the
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`CAT more broadly and do not center on digital assets. Instead, the Association and DEF’s
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`proposed amicus brief provides important digital asset industry context regarding how the CAT,
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`first proposed before blockchain technologies were in widespread use, interacts with blockchain
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`Case 6:24-cv-00197-ADA Document 58 Filed 08/22/24 Page 3 of 5
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`data in a way that exposes a vast amount of personal financial data to the federal government, far
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`beyond the securities transactions that the CAT was intended to capture. The CAT will connect
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`personal identifying information with wallet addresses that reveal blockchain-based user
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`transactions. Thus, anyone with access to the CAT would be able to see not just a person’s
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`securities transactions, as the CAT is designed to trace, but that person’s blockchain transactions
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`in the past, present, and future. Any blockchain-based transaction that is recorded in the CAT can
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`be used to track any and all other transactions with that person’s wallet address on the blockchain:
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`routine purchases, payments for services, donations to religious or other charities, salary payments,
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`virtual currency holdings, and far more. The CAT would thus provide unparalleled and
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`unprecedented insight – to the government, and to a slew of private parties – about everyday
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`Americans’ everyday blockchain transactions. All that information would be available to the
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`federal government, allowing the government to sift through the entirety of someone’s financial
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`life without a warrant or probable cause.
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`Because the Association and DEF will provide the Court with this unique perspective on
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`the impact of the CAT on the digital asset industry, the proposed amicus brief is timely and useful.
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`The Association and DEF thus respectfully request that the motion be granted and that they be
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`granted leave to file the attached amicus brief.
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`Case 6:24-cv-00197-ADA Document 58 Filed 08/22/24 Page 4 of 5
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`Dated: Dallas, Texas
` August 22, 2024
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`DOWD BENNETT LLP
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`By: /s/ Ben A. Barnes
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`Ben A. Barnes
`State Bar No. 24092085
`2100 Ross Ave
`Suite 955
`Dallas, TX 75201
`(214) 347-7346
`bbarnes@dowdbennett.com
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`MORRISON COHEN LLP
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`Jason Gottlieb (pro hac vice to be filed)
`Michael Mix (pro hac vice to be filed)
`Emma McGrath (pro hac vice to be filed)
`909 Third Avenue
`New York, New York 10022
`(212) 735-8600
`jgottlieb@morrisoncohen.com
`mmix@morrisoncohen.com
`emcgrath@morrisoncohen.com
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`Attorneys for Amici Curiae Blockchain Association and DeFi Education Fund
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`Case 6:24-cv-00197-ADA Document 58 Filed 08/22/24 Page 5 of 5
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`CERTIFICATE OF CONFERENCE
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`Counsel for the Association and DEF has complied with the meet and confer requirement
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`in Local Rule 7(g) by conferring with Plaintiffs’ counsel and Defendant’s counsel by email
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`regarding the contents of this Motion. Neither Plaintiffs nor Defendants are opposed to the filing
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`of this amicus brief.
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`Dated: Dallas, Texas
` August 22, 2024
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`/s/ Ben A. Barnes
`Ben A. Barnes
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`CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE
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`I certify that on August 22, 2024, a true and correct copy of the foregoing motion was filed
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`and served in accordance with the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure via the CM/ECF filing system
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`on all counsel of record.
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`Dated: Dallas, Texas
` August 22, 2024
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`/s/ Ben A. Barnes
`Ben A. Barnes
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