A federal appeals court judge in Philadelphia appeared skeptical on Monday of the US Securities and Exchange Commission's (SEC) long-delayed decision not to issue special rules related to the sale of crypto tokens.
In an afternoon hearing at the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit, lawyers for Coinbase and the SEC argued whether the regulator should. It should be mandatory Effective years later, to clarify the rules about crypto “Compulsion driven.” Occasional lawsuits against crypto organizations and projects
A three-judge panel of two Democrat-appointed judges and one Republican appointee debated both sides for more than an hour on where the SEC should draw certain lines when it comes to crypto regulation and whether more information should be provided on those decisions. Public.
During the hearing, several judges seemed confused when SEC attorney Ezekiel Hill refused to clarify on the record whether the agency considers Bitcoin and Ethereum to be commodities. Hill insisted that such decisions should still be made on a case-by-case basis.
“You don't even tell us how the Howey test applies to bitcoin or ether,” Judge Stefanos Bibas said, referring to the long-standing framework used by the SEC to determine whether an asset is a security. “Those [tokens] They have lived for a long time, but they do not take any position in front of us [Coinbase] It is safe whether you trade in Bitcoin and Ether or not.
Worse, in the year Appointed to the Third Circuit by former President Donald Trump in 2017, he himself is now clear. crypto lawyer. But Justice Thomas Ambro, appointed to the court by former Democratic President Bill Clinton, appears to have taken issue with the SEC's insistence that it should not clarify its rules around crypto.
“I don't see the reason,” Ambro said, of the SEC's reluctance to issue such a rule. “It looks like an outside observer is watching you.” [crypto] Creating platforms in a way that disrupts the industry without breaking into law.
Although the SEC did not clearly explain what crypto-tokens are under its purview, the agency approved Bitcoin and Ethereum ETFs earlier this year – landmarks Integrated Both have classified them as assets of the US economy and, in doing so, as non-securities.
Jumping on the bandwagon, Coinbase's lawyer, Eugene Scalia — the late Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia — gave his closing speech to the SEC, refusing to explain the security situation even after signs it was previously thought to be harmless.
“The time I entered this court is less than understanding the SEC's position on this topic,” Scalia said. “Because if one thing is clear, it's that Bitcoin and Ether are being recognized as securities by the SEC. That's a problem for the industry, and … a problem for the courts.”
“But this court can do something about this,” he added.
Edited by Andrew Hayward.
Daily Debrief Newspaper
Start every day with top news stories, plus original features, podcasts, videos and more.
