Bitcoin

The US SEC is trying to stifle the cryptocurrency industry — Coinbase

According to cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) will continue its approach of enforcing regulations on the cryptocurrency industry as much as possible in order to achieve its goal of strangling the industry.

Coinbase declared to a U.S. appeals court on May 31 that “the SEC is serious about digital asset destruction” as part of its ongoing efforts to pressure the SEC to create fair rules for the cryptocurrency industry.

But the exchange argues that the agency appears unwilling to come to the table to establish clear and fair guidelines.

He added, “Giving the agency an additional opportunity to explain is meaningless and exquisitely unfair.”

Source: Paul Grewal

Coinbase argued that the SEC has “no obligation” to ensure compliance with the rules and that the agency believes the rules are “sufficiently enforceable” because it has already taken legal action against several companies in the industry that have violated them. I did.

The exchange also told the court not to take its word for it before repeating the position of other SEC members who believe the SEC is disrupting the digital asset industry and welcomes the extinction of new technologies.”

Hester Pierce, one of the most vocal cryptocurrency SEC commissioners, recently published a letter promoting a cross-border sandbox program between US and UK blockchain companies experimenting with tokenized securities, Cointelegraph reported on May 30. .

“One of the problems we’ve had is people have tried to come in to the SEC to get relief, but they come in and nothing happens. This (…) will force the SEC’s hand a little bit,” Pierce said during the Consensus 2024 panel.

The SEC believes its heavy-handed approach will only create hardship for some.

Meanwhile, Coinbase also noted that the SEC has attempted to soften its heavy-handed approach to the cryptocurrency industry by arguing that its rules may only challenge a small portion of the industry.

“The SEC is trying to minimize its oppressive position by asserting that “only a small number of market participants” may experience “compliance difficulties” under “individual provisions” of existing rules.

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The SEC filed suit against Coinbase in June 2023, alleging that Coinbase had never registered as a broker, domestic stock exchange, or clearinghouse while avoiding the securities market disclosure regime.

Coinbase has tried to get the case dismissed, but the SEC has consistently opposed their efforts. Despite optimism from both the cryptocurrency industry and legal experts that Coinbase would dismiss the case, it was unsuccessful.

On January 21, Cointelegraph reported that Elliott Stein, Bloomberg’s senior litigation analyst, predicted the exchange had a 70% chance of securing a full dismissal of the lawsuit after attending the hearing.

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