US SEC plans to ‘strangle’ the crypto industry – Coinbase

The United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) will continue its regulatory-by-enforcement approach to the cryptocurrency industry until it is able to satisfy its goal of “stifling” the industry, according to crypto exchange Coinbase.

“The SEC is serious about the destruction of digital assets,” Coinbase said in a May 31 US appeals court filing in an effort to force the SEC to begin enacting fairer rules for the crypto industry.

However, the agency appears unwilling to come to the table to come up with clear and fair guidelines, the exchange argues.

“Giving the agency an additional opportunity to explain itself is senseless and undeserved,” he added.

Coinbase says the SEC is under no obligation to comply with the rules, and the agency believes the rules are “sufficiently workable” because it has taken legal action against several firms in the industry.

The exchange also told the court not to take their word for it before repeating the positions of other SEC commissioners.

Hester Pearce, one of the most vocal pro-crypto SEC commissioners, recently published a letter titled Cross-Border Sandboxing between the US and the UK and the UK.

One of the problems we have is that people try to go to the SEC for relief, but, you know, you go in, and nothing happens. This will happen. […] Force the SEC's hand a little bit,” Pierce said on the Consensus 2024 panel.

The SEC believes its weighting approach will only cause problems for some.

Meanwhile, Coinbase has also tried to tone down its heavy-handed approach to the crypto industry, saying the SEC regulations could pose challenges to a small segment of the industry.

“The SEC tries to downplay its oppressive stance by asserting that only a “small set of market participants” may face “compliance problems” under the “specific provisions” of existing regulations.

Related: Biden missed opportunity to ‘correct' position on crypto – Senator Lummis

The SEC has filed charges against Coinbase since June 2023, alleging that Coinbase never registered as a broker, national securities exchange or clearing agency.

Coinbase wanted to dismiss the case, but the SEC consistently resisted their attempts. Despite optimism from crypto industry and legal experts that Coinbase would dismiss the case, it was unsuccessful.

On January 21, Cointelegraph, Bloomberg's senior litigation analyst Elliott Stein predicted a 70% chance that the case would be completely dismissed after participating in the hearing.

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