Disclaimer: This article has been updated with comments from Coinbase discrediting the original Financial Times article.
Coinbase has denied a report that said its CEO, Brian Armstrong, said the US Securities and Exchange Commission once told him to remove all cryptocurrencies from its platform except Bitcoin (BTC).
In a July 31 interview with the Financial Times, Armstrong reportedly claimed that the Securities and Exchange Commission wanted Coinbase to delist the nearly 250 tokens from its platform before filing a lawsuit against the exchange.
Armstrong was quoted as saying the SEC believes that “every asset except bitcoin is a security,” and recounted an exchange with SEC officials in which they said, “We’re not going to explain it to you; They must delist every asset except bitcoin.”
However, a Coinbase spokesperson told Cointelegraph that the FT report omits context to its discussions with the SEC and is inaccurate.
The SEC has not asked Coinbase to delist specific assets because such a request can only be made following a majority decision by SEC commissioners, the spokesman said.
“The views shared in the FT article may have reflected the views of some staff at the time but did not represent the views of the Commission more broadly,” they added.
The SEC told the Financial Times that its enforcement department does not make formal requests for companies to “delist crypto assets,” but its staff may share their views on what actions might violate securities laws.
SEC Chairman Gary Gensler previously claimed in an interview with New York Magazine in February that “anything but Bitcoin” is a security within the agency’s purview.
Nothing about the crypto securities markets suggests that investors and issuers are less deserving of the protection of our securities laws.
Congress could have said in the 1930s that securities laws only applied to stocks and bonds.
For more information see my comments:
— Gary Gensler (@GaryGensler) June 12, 2023
The SEC sued Coinbase in early June, alleging that it operated as an unregistered exchange and naming 13 cryptocurrencies that Coinbase allegedly offered as unregistered securities. Days earlier, the regulator filed a similar complaint against Binance.
Related: Pro-XRP Advocate Claims SEC Prioritizes Corporate Capitalism Over Investors
Oversight of the crypto industry in the US does not rest with a single regulator, and both the Commodity Futures Trading Commission and the SEC have taken regulatory action against crypto industry players.
A bill that would give most crypto jurisdiction to the CFTC and clarify the crypto-related role of the SEC was passed by the House Agriculture Committee on July 27, after previously being passed by the House Financial Services Committee.
Collect this item as an NFT to preserve this moment in history and show your support for independent journalism in the crypto space.
Magazine: Crypto Regulation – Does SEC Chairman Gary Gensler Have the Last Word?
Update (1 Aug 22:40 UTC): This article has been updated to include comments from Coinbase.
Learn Crypto Trading, Yield Farms, Income strategies and more at CrytoAnswers
https://nov.link/cryptoanswers
Comments are closed.