Bitrabo Editorial
A recent letter from the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to Grayscale, a leading investment management firm, has sparked reactions from the crypto and Filecoin community. The SEC has labeled Filecoin a financial security while responding to Grayscale’s Filcoin Trust registration statement.
Billionaire investor Mark Cuban commented on a recent tweet about the SEC’s claims and suggested ways that crypto firms can avoid future SEC lawsuits on potential securities law violations.
Mark Cuban’s Lawsuit-Evading Idea
Mark Cuban suggested that cryptocurrency issuing firms could evade an SEC lawsuit by releasing their entire token supply without leaving treasury reserves. The companies can then use their tokens for liquidity on decentralized finance (DeFi) applications and dissolve the original entity that released the tokens, circling in the secondary market without direct ties to the underlying blockchain. Cuban tagged his idea “true decentralization” to prevent regulators like the SEC from closing down the token like Filecoin and others.
Cuban’s suggestion stirred reactions from the crypto community members. Some commented that the US securities laws are “black holes that suck in everything invested”. Another respondent said that Cuban’s idea wouldn’t work with protocols as it requires minting all token supplies upfront, which is limiting. However, a smart contract could hold the token supply, releasing it under governance or in a predetermined manner.
Even pro-XRP lawyer John Deaton weighed in, describing Cuban’s suggestion as “smart and probably someone’s playbook at the moment”. However, the lawyer insisted that the crypto ecosystem continue fighting the SEC’s narrative that tags every token besides Bitcoin as a security. Summing it up, Deaton wrote: “The underlying asset in an investment contract is never a security”.
Grayscale Disagrees With SEC Claims On Filecoin
Grayscale Investments filed a registration statement of its Grayscale Filecoin Trust (OTCQB: FILG) with the SEC on April 14th, 2023 intending to register the trust’s shares under section 12(g) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. However, the firm received a letter from the SEC stating that FIL, the trust’s underlying asset, is a security. Grayscale disagreed with the SEC’s claim and intends to respond to the regulator’s letter. While it cannot predict the SEC’s reaction to its response, Grayscale would seek other ways to register the trust should the regulator disagree.
This article covers the reaction of the crypto and Filecoin community including billionaire investor Mark Cuban to the recent claims made by the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) about Filecoin being a financial security. Mark Cuban suggested a way for cryptocurrency issuing firms to evade an SEC lawsuit by decentralizing their tokens. Grayscale Investments disagreed with the SEC’s claim on Filecoin and intends to respond to the regulator’s letter.