Allied Against the SEC

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has long been a thorn in the side of cryptocurrencies and blockchain technologies. Their job is to enforce the law against market manipulation but some feel their treatment of crypto has been unfair.

• In May, the SEC announced that it was nearly doubling its Crypto Assets and Cyber Unit, from 30 to 50 dedicated positions.
• At the end of June, the SEC rejected Grayscale Investment’s application to offer a bitcoin ETF. The SEC stated that the firm failed to answer its questions about preventing marketing manipulation and other concerns.
• Barely an hour after the regulator’s decision, Greyscale filed a lawsuit against the SEC. The investment firm argued that the SEC has to allow products similar to other products already trading, in this case, bitcoin futures ETFs.
• Greyscale’s lawsuit against the SEC has started gaining traction with Aprominent names from the crypto industry joining forces, with Coinbase being the latest and the most prominent.
• The cryptocurrency exchange has filed an amicus brief backing Grayscale Investment’s lawsuit against the SEC.

Blockchain Association, Chamber of Digital Commerce, Chamber of Progress, and Coin Centre also stand alongside Greyscale. The groups highlighted the presence of strong consumer demand in the country for Bitcoin exposure.

In their court filings, Greyscales allies further commented that the SEC had applied double standards in universally rejecting proposals.