On June 5, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filed a lawsuit against Binance, accusing the crypto exchange of violating securities laws. As a result, the SEC has extended its oversight to more than $115 billion worth of crypto assets. The filing cites over a dozen coins – including top ten altcoins such as Binance’s BNB, Polygon’s MATIC, Solana’s SOL, Cardano’s ADA, Filecoin’s FIL, and Algorand’s ALGO – requiring providers of these tokens to adhere to stricter protection rules for trading support.
This development could lead other exchanges to avoid offering support for these digital assets, making them harder to trade in the open market. While SEC Chair Gary Gensler has previously stated most tokens are subject to securities laws for investor protection, this is the first time specific cryptocurrencies have been named in such a filing, signaling a tougher approach from the regulator.
Following the SEC’s action, Binance responded by assuring they are taking the allegations seriously but do not believe they should be the subject of SEC enforcement action. Binance intends to “defend [their] platform vigorously.” Other industry players have also expressed support for Binance. Jeff Dorman, chief investment officer at digital-asset specialist Arca, argues that the SEC’s actions may hurt US-based exchanges like Coinbase and Kraken, which may have to decide whether to delist the named tokens and potentially stop making markets on those deemed securities.
The cryptocurrency market experienced a significant drop soon after the lawsuit’s announcement, with Bitcoin losing around 4.5% of its value and other altcoins dropping 6-8%. However, Dorman believes the lawsuit will not have a long-lasting impact on the market, as most cryptocurrencies are traded on off-shore exchanges.
Coinbase and Kraken, also facing scrutiny from the SEC, have yet to comment on the recent development but are battling their own issues with the regulatory body. Notably, Coinbase has stated they will not delist tokens deemed securities by the SEC until a final court decision is reached.
While this development sees the SEC taking a more stringent approach to cryptocurrency regulation, the outcome of this lawsuit and the impact on both US-based and offshore exchanges remains to be seen. Investors should continue to keep a watchful eye on the evolving regulatory environment and conduct thorough market research before making any investment decisions in the cryptocurrency market.
Source: Coingape
