Live data from Hacker News

Robinhood Crypto Gets Wells Notice from US SEC

reuters.com

31–40 of 65 posts

Re: Robinhood Crypto Gets Wells Notice from US SEC

#31
post #9
post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The vast majority of arbitrage of fungible assets happens in commodities, not securities. The SEC regulates securities. The CFTC regulates commodities.

Ok, but these are clearly not commodities.

10 years ago, I’d probably agree with you.

Today, you can spin up your own shit coin with basically a few clicks.

Re: Robinhood Crypto Gets Wells Notice from US SEC

#32
post #26

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The only reasonable standard the crypto true believers would accept from the US government is that cryptocurrency tokens and derivatives are 100% unregulated and nontaxable by any current or future statute.

That's a nice ad hominem attack you've made there, but it isn't actually unreasonable to argue that Bitcoin and certain other currencies like it are not securities. Heck, even the SEC has said as much. It's even more reasonable to argue that things like NFTs are more like digital baseball cards than securities.

> it isn't actually unreasonable to argue that Bitcoin and certain other currencies like it are not securities

It’s not. But it’s clear the industry needs supervision, and it isn’t really worth the time drafting federal legislation. The SEC keeping the most egregious behaviour checked, e.g. policing positioning with retail investors, is the best worst option for now.

Re: Robinhood Crypto Gets Wells Notice from US SEC

#33
post #26

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's a nice ad hominem attack you've made there, but it isn't actually unreasonable to argue that Bitcoin and certain other currencies like it are not securities. Heck, even the SEC has said as much. It's even more reasonable to argue that things like NFTs are more like digital baseball cards than securities.

> it isn't actually unreasonable to argue that Bitcoin and certain other currencies like it are not securities It’s not. But it’s clear the industry needs supervision, and it isn’t really worth the time drafting federal legislation. The SEC keeping the most egregious behaviour checked, e.g. policing positioning with retail investors, is the best worst option for now.

The CFTC seems to think it would be perfectly competent to handle the situation too. I don't think the only options are federal legislation or the (allegedly) overreaching SEC.

Re: Robinhood Crypto Gets Wells Notice from US SEC

#34
post #26

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The only reasonable standard the crypto true believers would accept from the US government is that cryptocurrency tokens and derivatives are 100% unregulated and nontaxable by any current or future statute.

That's a nice ad hominem attack you've made there, but it isn't actually unreasonable to argue that Bitcoin and certain other currencies like it are not securities. Heck, even the SEC has said as much. It's even more reasonable to argue that things like NFTs are more like digital baseball cards than securities.

I don't think that's an ad-hominem attack at all. The entire point of crypocurrency from jump was to escape the "reckless inflation/deflation of fiat currency", fiat currency meaning state-sponsored currency. The goal was to create an object that would hold value outside the traditional financial sector, similar to things like gold. I think the only real problem is that the crypto community took the several decades of the various governments world-wide not giving a shit about their $0.0004 coins as admission by those governments that they were beyond regulation and not, as would be a far simpler explanation, not worth their time to regulate. And once it was worth their time, it was regulated.

To be clear, I don't know or really care if these stupid things are securities or what. But I do know that you're going to need a lot better of an argument than an "um actshually" to get the Feds off your ass. Y'all went and achieved your dream: a parallel financial system. Now Uncle Sam's comin' to get his cut.

Re: Robinhood Crypto Gets Wells Notice from US SEC

#36

Here is some colour on the issue how the SEC sees the matter https://twitter.com/mattwalshinbos/status/178746618973775060...

Doesn’t really explain why Robinhood thought the framework was unworkable, and why they thought throwing up their hands and ignoring the SEC would result in anything but enforcement.

Re: Robinhood Crypto Gets Wells Notice from US SEC

#37

Any idea what this could mean for those holding crypto on Robinhood?

> Any idea what this could mean for those holding crypto on Robinhood?

Robinhood ain't risking much I think. Look at what the ex CEO of Binance got: a personal fine of $50m (while he's believed to be worth about $30 billion), a $4bn fine for Binance and three months in prison (where he'll be the richest inmate in the US).

Meanwhile Binance keeps working.

Re: Robinhood Crypto Gets Wells Notice from US SEC

#38
post #33

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> it isn't actually unreasonable to argue that Bitcoin and certain other currencies like it are not securities It’s not. But it’s clear the industry needs supervision, and it isn’t really worth the time drafting federal legislation. The SEC keeping the most egregious behaviour checked, e.g. policing positioning with retail investors, is the best worst option for now.

The CFTC seems to think it would be perfectly competent to handle the situation too. I don't think the only options are federal legislation or the (allegedly) overreaching SEC.

> CFTC seems to think it would be perfectly competent to handle the situation too

The way these businesses are run, it probably does too. A good amount of effort in finance goes into avoiding unneeded regulatory duplication. But if you’re a you’re a bank you get both the FDIC and SEC, a public drug manufacturer the SEC and FDA; if you’re selling crypto through your brokerage app, the SEC and CFTC.

Re: Robinhood Crypto Gets Wells Notice from US SEC

#39

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They've been reprimanded by a federal judge for blatant extrajudicial power grabs like this one. None of their huge cases claiming various cryptocurrencies are securities have succeeded, except in the super cut-and-dry cases like ICOs and centralized schemes that clearly pass the Howey test.

> None of their huge cases claiming various cryptocurrencies are securities have succeeded A federal judge found the SEC has jurisdiction over crypto and is sending Coinbase’s case to a jury trial [1]. [1] https://www.cnbc.com/2024/03/27/sec-scores-big-win-in-lawsui...

That's in the specific context of staking and promising returns, not crypto in general.

Re: Robinhood Crypto Gets Wells Notice from US SEC

#40

Earlier quoted context omitted.

From the CFTC's official website: "The Commodity Futures Trading Commission is an independent U.S. government agency that regulates the U.S. derivatives markets, including futures, options, and swaps." Also from their official website: 20 quadrillion per week in settled trades. Too lazy to look up the equities numbers, but I would bet everything I own it's lower. Also from the CFTC's website: "Bitcoin is considered a…

SEC regulates securities-based derivatives. I used to professionally make markets in those. SEC and CFTC are both claiming jurisdiction over Bitcoin.

Correct. And this case hinges on the yet undecided question as to whether or not Bitcoin and numerous other cryptocurrencies are actually securities.
Post reply on HN