You may have noticed that the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), the financial watchdog of the United States, has been lashing out at the crypto industry in recent weeks.
Among other things, by closing the Kraken staking program and by prohibiting Paxos from issuing new Binance USD (BUSD). The Chamber of Digital Commerce is of the opinion that the SEC is going beyond its limits and is intervening.
Chamber of Digital Commerce intervenes
To prevent the SEC from further tearing down the crypto industry, the Chamber of Digital Commerce is making itself heard in the case between the regulator and Wahi. Through one so-called Amicus Letter to the Judgethe Chamber of Digital Commerce explains that they believe the SEC is falsely classifying several currencies as securities.
In general, in financial law, we speak of a security when the financial object has been put on the market by a company that is working to increase the price of that object. The simplest example of a security is a stock in a company.
Financial law prohibits a company from simply marketing and selling a security to the general public. If the SEC is proven right and the cryptocurrencies in question do indeed qualify as securities, they will probably all disappear from the exchanges as well. Parties such as Coinbase, Kraken and Binance do not have the correct licenses to trade securities.
Threat to the crypto industry
In the letter to the judge, the Chamber of Digital Commerce writes that the SEC is overstepping its bounds. According to the organization, the regulator would do well to wait for regulations from the legislators before they take all kinds of decisions themselves. In this case they do not and turn to parties that operate in an uncertain climate.
“This case represents a stealthy, yet dramatic and unprecedented attempt to expand SEC jurisdiction and threatens the health and viability of the U.S. digital asset market,” said Perianne Boring, the founder and CEO of the Chamber of Digital Commerce. .
It remains to be seen to what extent Boring’s organization will succeed in actually changing the situation. A few industry leaders have also emerged. Coinbase and Paxos, among others, are also fed up with the SEC’s handling of the industry. In that respect, exciting times are ahead.