Cryptocurrencies have long been in trouble with the SEC. It was clear that this would happen because the institution explicitly threatened the industry by the end of 2022. In the statements of that day, it was said that if crypto companies do not come and register, they will face difficult days starting from 2023. SEC kept its promise and 2023 was full of challenging days for some crypto companies.
SEC’s Crypto Currency Threat
David Hirsch, the head of the SEC unit focusing on cryptocurrencies, focused on cryptocurrencies in his statements at the Securities Enforcement Forum held in Chicago today. It was implied that the enforcement division, which sues at an unusual pace for the SEC, will not slow down. Moreover, he said that more centralized exchanges than Binance and Coinbase violate the laws. He also signaled that investigations in the DeFi field should be prepared for. These statements clearly indicate that DeFi initiatives will also be targeted in the next 1 year.
The institution is currently involved in a series of complex crypto cases in federal courts and, as we have seen in the summary judgment of Ripple, it does not always succeed. The decision in the GBTC case was also among its significant failures.
SEC Will Continue Crypto Lawsuits
Weeks ago, Gensler, while testifying for the budget, requested the expansion of his team for more sanctions and therefore an increase in the budget. Gensler, who sees the crypto industry as a good source to collect million-dollar fines, follows the strategy of imposing penalties on crypto companies with 50-year-old rules instead of new rules.
Hirsch said that the SEC’s interest in crypto goes beyond high-profile exchanges.
“We will continue to be active in intermediaries. Our targets are brokers, exchanges, clearing agencies, or anyone within our jurisdiction who fails to fulfill their obligations through registration or by not providing sufficient or complete disclosure. We will continue to conduct investigations, be active in this field, and hiding behind the DeFi label will not protect anyone or deter us. SEC or any institution has more tokens than they can directly monitor. As far as I know, there are 20,000, 25,000 tokens, and similarly, there are a number of centralized platforms that act as unregistered exchanges.”
