Crypto, Sec against Binance and Coinbase and companies flee the US
The Sec (Securities and Exchange Commission) or Consob Usaagainst two of the most used cryptocurrency exchanges in the world, Binance e Coinbase. The aim is clear: to end the deregulation of the sector. In fact, the two companies are accused by the SEC of acting as financial intermediaries not registered.
According to the US regulator, cryptocurrencies should be considered like financial securities – and subject to the same supervisory rules. The CEO of Binance, Changpeng Zhao, was also accused of “civil fraud”, while the same exchange would have shown, according to the Sec, deficiencies in the control systems of trading manipulations. Both platforms, which obviously deny the allegations, nonetheless continue to operate regularly.
The excessive power of the Sec
Binance responded to the SEC declaring that the same authority would be trying to unilaterally define the structure of the crypto market. “We now join a number of other crypto projects that are facing similarly misguided action by the SEC and will vigorously defend our business and the industry,” Binance said. “Cryptocurrencies do not represent an investment contract of any kind and as such do not they are titles”.
Coinbase, which is listed on the New York Stock Exchange, is asking to introduce specific legislation in the United States to definitively regulate the crypto universe. “The SEC’s reliance on an executive-only approach in the absence of clear rules for the digital asset industry is hurting America’s economic competitiveness and companies like Coinbase that have demonstrated their commitment to complying with the rules,” he said Paul Grewal, general manager of legal affairs of Coinbase, inviting the intervention of Congress.
We need a specific law for cryptocurrencies
But in the absence of one specific lawAmerican justice will rule on the nature of crypto-assets, whose interpretation could therefore have major repercussions on the business of companies in the sector in the United States.
Even in Europe, the definition of crypto-assets is not fully resolved even after the approval of the regulation MiCa. A study commissioned by the Economic and Monetary Committee of the European Parliament, in fact, had suggested to European legislators to define by default all crypto-assets as “transferable securities”, except for exemptions expressly indicated by the competent national authorities. The restrictive interpretation of the SEC on what are the transparency and supervision obligations on crypto-assets raises doubts within a business that was originally imagined to overcome intermediaries and the regulation of traditional financial assets.
Dubai is a crypto asset paradise
The equivalence of tokens to other financial securities, which is indicated in the lawsuits filed by the Sec against two crypto giants, it would therefore be pushing several companies in the sector to abandon the United States. According to New York TimesCoinbase has opened a new office in Bermuda, while Gemini and Bittrex, other cryptocurrency exchange platforms, have applied for a license in the United Arab Emirates, where Dubai is becoming a crypto haven, and closed the US office.