Consider this post “a quick heads up.”
Recently, the SEC filed major lawsuits against Binance and Coinbase, alleging the companies are skirting the law by supposedly dealing as exchanges in financial securities without the proper registration or regulatory oversight to do so.
Regardless of whether you own crypto or not, if you’re a business owner, you should be paying attention to how these suits progress forward.
Both organizations assert that they’ve been in longstanding discussions with the SEC on how cryptocurrency can fit seamlessly within the socioeconomic landscape to the satisfaction of all parties.
However, they submit SEC regulators haven’t put forth a good-faith effort to work with them and others in the crypto world to establish any clear and workable regulatory strategy. They say SEC abandoned those talks and initiated legal action.
The owners of these exchanges must be thinking, “Why us? Why now? It feels unfair that after we’ve built these businesses at great risk. It’s has cost us our blood, sweat and tears. We all know the securities laws are behind the times and need to be updated, which is why we wanted to engage in this dialogue. Why have we suddenly become a target? No investors are claiming they’ve been harmed.”
Indeed. In all of SEC’s allegations against the crypto exchanges, there’s one party that’s been conspicuously left out of the matter…
Crypto investors.
A legal review of the SEC’s 136-page complaint against Binance and their 101-page complaint against Coinbase strongly suggests leads there may be an ulterior motive behind its actions.
Assuming the SEC wins these cases and the exchanges are significantly modified or eliminated, crypto investors could stand to lose billions.
Again, why would the SEC contemplate such a strategy?
I’ve heard rumor the Federal Reserve is working on a digital currency. Could the SEC be “paving the way” for a government-backed digital currency and want competition out of the way?
Time will tell…
Here’s the big takeaway: In heavily-regulated industries, such as finance, transportation, insurance, and manufacturing, the business owner must be exceptionally alert these days. You could become a target – even though you’ve operated within the law for decades.
If you find yourself up against a regulatory inquiry, there’s no need to go it alone. Let us help assess the situation! Contact Jonathan Scott and Commerce Law Partners – Prepare to Win!