Without a sectoral regulatory framework approved by Congress, the SEC took control of the regulation of cryptocurrencies, which it considers to be within its competence.
ADVERTISING
The complaint affects a sector already weakened by a series of scandalous failures last year, starting with that of FTX, the second largest platform in the world, whose directors are accused of using customers' money without their consent.
At around 15pm GMT (00pm Brasília time), Coinbase shares were down more than 12% on Wall Street.
When filing the lawsuit in US federal court, the commission argued that Coinbase's lack of registration “deprived investors of significant protections, including inspection by the SEC, record-keeping requirements, and safeguards against conflicts of interest, among others.”
ADVERTISING
“The SEC's strategy, with an exclusively repressive approach in the absence of clear rules for the digital asset industry, has a negative effect on the economic competitiveness of the United States and companies like Coinbase, which have proven their commitment in the field of compliance” with the standards, reacted the platform's legal manager, Paul Grewal, in a message sent to AFP.
“The solution involves legislation that defines fair rules, implemented transparently and applied equitably, and not through the courts,” he added. “While we wait, we will continue to operate in the same way,” he highlighted.
The announcement of this action in a federal court in Manhattan, New York, comes one day after the lawsuit, also by the SEC, of the largest global cryptocurrency trading platform, Binance, accused of having purposely circumvented regulations with American customers.
ADVERTISING
The market supervisor targeted Coinbase for failing to register with the body as a transaction platform and intermediary for cryptocurrency transactions.
“For the cryptocurrency sector as a whole, legal actions against two of the most important companies, among the best known, will have an impact on consumer confidence in cryptocurrencies, which was already weakened”, summarized Douglas Clark, analyst at consultancy Insider Intelligence .
At the end of 2022, Coinbase had 110 million users and 80 billion dollars (approximately R$417 billion at the time) in assets hosted on its platform.
ADVERTISING
"Western"
The complaint against Coinbase comes while a hearing on the regulation of cryptocurrencies is scheduled for this Tuesday in the Agriculture Committee of the House of Representatives (lower) of the US Congress, whose interest in financial markets focuses on agricultural derivatives of basic products.
Grewal, from Coinbase, will be among those appearing before this body of the Legislature.
“The United States is losing ground” in relation to other countries with better defined legislation, argued the jurist in a previous statement; “they push technology and innovators abroad due to a lack of clear rules for cryptocurrencies”.
ADVERTISING
The country has “a more important place in financial markets because it has gained public trust (…) Cryptocurrency markets erode that trust,” argued SEC President Gary Gensler in an interview with CNBC this Tuesday.
The cryptocurrency industry “resembles the Wild West”, summarized the person in charge.
“Regulation through repression is not an adequate way to control a market, protect consumers and promote innovation”, said, at the opening of the Committee session, the president of that body, Republican Glenn Thompson.
Last Thursday, two Republican deputies – Thompson among them – published a text that could serve as the basis for a proposed law to regulate cryptoactives. Surveillance of the rule may be shared between the SEC and the agency responsible for regulating futures markets, the CFTC.
Read also
