Similar to the ongoing securities lawsuit between the SEC and Ripple, this time between the Coinbase exchange and the SEC.
Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong, who occasionally made resounding statements on his Twitter account, made harsh criticisms of the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).
Stating that they went to the SEC for Lend, Coinbase’s product that gives interest to customers holding USDC in their accounts, they did not get any convincing answers, and they also faced court threats, Armstrong said:
“We’re getting really sloppy responses from the SEC. Time to tell a little story… Millions of cryptocurrency investors have been receiving investment interest as deposits of their assets in recent years.
‘We went to the SEC in a friendly and well-meaning attitude’
Everyone is happy with this situation. Like some companies, Coinbase has launched its own product in this sense. In a few weeks, we were also considering launching this product officially. So we went to the SEC in a friendly and well-meaning manner.
‘They told us it was a security’
And they told us that Lend is a security. We did not understand how such an asset was a security, it felt strange. Still, we asked the SEC to tell us why. We have always wanted to work with institutions in good faith.
‘They said they will take it to court’
They didn’t tell us why the product was a security. They asked for some records from the company, we gave them. They took the statements of our employees, and we did that. Finally, they said that if we launched this product, they would take us to court. They didn’t make a statement about it either.
‘They didn’t even talk to me…’
The SEC is the only regulatory body that has refused to meet with me. I went to them after they were listed on the Nasdaq. They told me, ‘We don’t negotiate with crypto companies. President Gensler said, “The SEC must provide guidance and clarity.” It is important to be able to provide this. If you don’t want this situation, apply it to the entire industry.”
The legal manager also reacted
Paul Grewel, the legal director of the Coinbase exchange, also reacted to the SEC’s stance, saying that they have been in talks with the SEC about this product for almost 6 months:
“The SEC doesn’t tell us where the problem is. It does not give detailed information. Now they say that if we remove this product, they will take us to court. They also refused our last request for information.”
As it is known, Coinbase also has yield services for Ethereum 2.0 and Tezos “proof of stake” protocols. However, experts state that the SEC has not taken any action regarding the “staking” service.
Some states also took action for BlockFi.
One of the most famous lending and interest-giving crypto money companies in the USA is BlockFi… In the past months, investigations have been opened for this company in some states. The company allegedly violated securities laws and regulations.
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