The Securities and Trade Fee on Friday rejected a petition from Coinbase, the biggest crypto change within the U.S., for a separate regulatory framework for the cryptocurrency trade.
“The commission concludes that the requested rulemaking is currently unwarranted and denies the petition,” the SEC wrote in a letter addressed to Coinbase’s chief authorized officer, Paul Grewal.
Gary Gensler, the chair of the SEC, cheered on the denial in a separate statement, saying that he supported the fee’s resolution as a result of, he argues, present legal guidelines and laws already apply to crypto, the SEC already addresses the trade via rulemaking, and it’s necessary for his company to take care of management over what assets it deploys to supervise its regulatory agenda. “As I said prior to the collapse of one of the largest noncompliant crypto intermediaries that cost investors billions of dollars,” he wrote, “meaningful engagement with the SEC is always welcome.”
Spokespeople for Coinbase didn’t instantly reply to a request for remark when contacted by Fortune.
The SEC’s ruling on Coinbase’s petition comes greater than a 12 months after the corporate filed its request with the company, arguing that the “U.S. does not currently have a functioning market in digital asset securities due to the lack of a clear and workable regulatory regime.”
After the collapse of FTX in November 2022 and the following arrest of the change’s CEO, Sam Bankman-Fried, the SEC, below the steering of Gensler, has launched into an intensive marketing campaign in opposition to crypto.
Within the first half of 2023, it focused among the largest gamers within the trade, submitting fits in opposition to Gemini, Genesis, Terraform Labs and founder Do Kwon, in addition to Justin Sun and Tron. In June, it launched salvos in opposition to two crypto heavyweights, first suing the world’s largest crypto change, Binance, after which submitting a lawsuit in opposition to Coinbase. The SEC’s marketing campaign has continued via the top of the 12 months, with it most just lately targeting one other trade mainstay, the crypto change Kraken.
Most of its lawsuits in opposition to the trade’s prime gamers are ongoing, even its litigation in opposition to Binance, which just lately agreed to a $4.3 billion settlement with the Division of Justice for breaking anti-money laundering legal guidelines, amongst different crimes.
Coinbase, which positions itself as one of many trade’s do-gooders, has cried foul on the SEC’s in depth litigation in opposition to crypto, claiming the company is “regulating through enforcement,” somewhat than rulemaking. Evidently, the SEC disagrees, and its lawsuit in opposition to Coinbase, which it alleges listed unregistered “crypto asset securities,” continues to wind its means via courtroom.
