Bitrabo Editorial
The American crypto industry has witnessed four significant victories against the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) in the last 24-hours, according to Bitrabo. The industry has gained huge benefits from these wins against the regulatory body.
The biggest win was the release of the Hinman documents in the ongoing legal wrangle between Ripple Labs and the SEC. The crypto community and the industry were eagerly waiting for this moment, hoping that the regulator’s weak stance would be exposed. The Hinman emails reveal an agency that prioritizes its own interests over investor protection, says Roslyn Layton. The emails also expose a high-ranking SEC official who disregarded internal warnings that he was not following the law.
Several messages within the emails demonstrate that SEC officials were well aware that Hinman’s speech would result in “greater confusion.” The SEC’s Office of General Counsel (OGC) issued a warning that any future deviation in Ether’s position could lead to trouble. However, Hinman ignored this directive and made Ether a focus of his speech.
The Hinman emails indicate that the SEC had agreed to Hinman’s speech silently but did not take any follow-up action. The emails expose all the members of the US crypto industry to a fair notice defense, which Ripple also asserts. Coinbase CLO Paul Grewal states that the SEC sent proof of the regulatory gap from the Hinman emails that they have been trying to explain to Congress and the SEC itself. The securities laws’ incompleteness includes digital assets, and securities law does not apply to all digital assets, and many digital assets are not securities.
Other Major SEC Defeats Against Crypto
Binance US won a partial victory yesterday, as the federal judge overseeing the US Securities and Exchange Commission’s case against it ruled that the SEC cannot shut down Binance US and rejected the restraining order to freeze the assets of the US trading platform.
The judge ruled that there was “absolutely no need” for a restraining order and ordered the two parties to settle their differences. Binance has indicated that they are willing to agree to some form of asset freeze on Binance US as long as they are still able to conduct business as usual, which would include the ability to make customer withdrawals.
Coinbase has also taken an important step towards winning against the SEC. The regulator had until yesterday to comment on the rulemaking petition, and the SEC wants 120 days to respond. This move by the SEC shows that they are playing for time and feel cornered. Paul Grewal, the Chief Legal Officer (CLO), has claimed that the SEC is repeating the fallacy that they have not yet made a decision on new crypto rules.
The leading House Committee on Financial Services also held a hearing yesterday. Tom Emmer revealed that Gary Gensler told Congress last year that he needed legislation to regulate the digital asset industry, but this year he says he does not need any. In addition, all Republicans in the House Financial Services Committee wrote a letter to the SEC demanding the withdrawal of proposed changes to the definition of “exchange”. Changes in the definition would harm market participants for digital assets and stifle innovation.
At present, the total crypto market capitalization stands at $1.024 trillion and is below the crucial 200-day EMA (blue line).
Featured image from iStock, chart from TradingView.com