Ethereum Founder Vitalik Buterin Responses to SEC Actions Cracking Down on Crypto

Previously, in a letter filed with crypto exchange Coinbase, Wednesday, June 29, 2023 in Manhattan federal court, Coinbase said the SEC did not have the authority to file civil lawsuits because the assets trading on its platform are not securities.

The largest US crypto exchange also said it would ask a judge to dismiss a US Security and Exchange Commission lawsuit claiming it violated the law by failing to register its business.

“The SEC can pursue its claims only if the tokens and betting services it has identified are securities,” Coinbase said, quoted from Channel News Asia, Sunday (27/2023).

The SEC sued Coinbase on June 6, saying it made billions of dollars acting as an intermediary including by trading at least 13 crypto assets, or tokens, such as Solana, Cardano and Polygon that should have been registered securities.

Coinbase is also being sued over a staking program in which it pools crypto assets to support activity on the blockchain network, in exchange for a reward it gives out to customers after taking a commission for itself.

The lawsuit was filed one day after the SEC sued Binance, the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange, accusing it of inflating trading volumes, mishandling customer funds and lying about its operations.

SEC chairman Gary Gensler has tried to assert jurisdiction over the crypto industry, which, he says, is undermining investor confidence in the US capital markets.