Few in the crypto community were surprised when the SEC denied Coinbase Global’s petition for the U.S. agency to urgently create regulations specific to cryptocurrencies, and in addition laid out no immediate plans for doing so. The Commission — and the U.S. government more broadly — have already made clear through past statements and behavior that they intend to regulate crypto through blunt enforcement rather than clear legislation and guidelines.
This is a tragic outcome, not just for those like myself who operate crypto-related businesses, but for Americans who want freedom and peace of mind as they participate in this emerging monetary system.A shift in tone The discussion around this issue was quite different back in 2021. At the time, the SEC reviewed and approved the initial public offering for leading U.S. cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase
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Now the regulatory agency is taking a markedly different approach. This March, the SEC formally told Coinbase that the company was in violation of U.S. securities laws and that its trading operations potentially would be shut down. It’s hard to tell what is driving the SEC’s hardline position, but what is clear is that the commission is determined to reinforce the system through enforcement, leading to inconsistent outcomes and general confusion. Cryptocurrency is a tool that can be developed to provide an array of functions. They can’t all just be lumped together as securities; different services must be regulated based on what each of them do. The SEC’s regulatory strategy simply won’t work here.Another FTX? Already, Bittrex, Nexo, Binance and other crypto firms have been apprehensive about operating in the U.S. due to lack of clarity around regulations. That’s about to get even worse. Historically, the U.S. has established industry regulations first, and the rest of the world ad …
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