SEC rejects Coinbase’s petition to regulate crypto assets as “unfair” | CoinDesk JAPAN

• Since 2022, Coinbase has been waiting for a response from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission to a formal petition seeking regulations created for crypto assets, and had been trying to force an answer through the courts, but the latest denial. I received the answer.
• The SEC argued that there is no reason to create a new regime for crypto assets, and that the SEC has already written targeted crypto rules and implemented enforcement actions under existing authorities. Two of the five committee members disagreed.
• Coinbase said it would take the matter back to court.

Coinbase, a major U.S. cryptocurrency exchange, petitioned the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to promote a system of rules customized for digital assets, but was rejected by the SEC on the 15th. .

SEC insists existing securities system adequately controls

“The existing securities system adequately governs crypto-asset securities,” SEC Chairman Gary Gensler said in a statement announcing the rejection. In addition to asserting that the SEC has sufficient authority within the framework of current law, the industry watchdog is already working on proposed rules to directly regulate crypto-asset businesses, and the SEC’s Enforcement Division will also address fraud. He said that he has been able to do so.

Chairman Gensler’s third point was that “it is important that the Commission retain its discretion in setting its own rulemaking priorities.”

Coinbase criticizes SEC decision as ‘abdication of duty’

Coinbase filed the petition in 2022 before the SEC sued the company for being an unregistered securities exchange. The company asked a federal court this year to force the SEC to answer, and now the answer has arrived.

In its two-page response, the five-member committee wrote: “The Commission recommends that crypto-asset securities, issuers of such securities, and intermediaries in the trading, settlement, and custody of such securities “We do not agree with the petition’s contention that applying legal regulations is unworkable.” The commission said the SEC had carefully considered the petition, and “the commission concludes that the requested rulemaking is unwarranted at this time and dismisses the petition.”

Coinbase Chief Legal Officer Paul Grewal said the company plans to further challenge the rejection in court, calling the SEC’s decision an “abdication of its obligations.”

“No one looking at our industry fairly believes that the law is clear or that there is nothing more to be done,” Grewal said in a statement.

Two out of five committee members opposed the dismissal.

Republican Commissioners Hester Peirce and Mark Uyeda opposed the SEC’s rejection.

“We look forward to seeing stakeholders continue to provide concrete rule changes, guidance, and exemptions that will provide a useful foundation for the crypto industry to continue to grow in the United States,” the two said in a statement. Statement. “While we are disappointed that the Commission is not hosting these important conversations, we will listen to the conversations hosted by others and the ideas that emerge from them.”

Grewal said Coinbase is “grateful that the two commissioners disagreed with the dismissal and called for a real dialogue,” adding, “We will defend the case based on a legal position that changes every month. Instead, we should work together to create laws and rules that benefit consumers and American innovation.”

SEC claims Coinbase has authorized authority

A footnote to Chairman Gensler’s statement notes that Coinbase’s own petition repeatedly references “digital asset securities” and the SEC’s authority over them, stating, “Therefore, if cryptoassets are offered and sold as securities, the SEC’s He acknowledges that he may be subject to supervision.”

Gensler also noted that crypto asset brokers have been using special digital asset registries, although he did not mention Prometheum Inc. by name, suggesting that this method of compliance “works.”

Pushing for a broader industry-specific regulatory system in the United States has become a top priority for crypto lobbyists in Washington. So far this year’s legislative efforts in Congress have made progress, but have not reached the finish line. While the SEC has been procrastinating over the need for separate rules on securities, the Financial Stability Oversight Council, whose members include the SEC chairman, said in its annual report on the 15th that crypto assets concluded that Congress needed to intervene through regulation.

｜Translation and editing: Rinan Hayashi
｜Image: Jesse Hamilton/CoinDesk
｜Original text: US SEC Denies Coinbase’s Push for Crypto Regulations as ‘Unwarranted’