“But the SEC let us go public” and other flawed arguments in Coinbase's defense
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“But the SEC let us go public” and other flawed arguments in Coinbase's defense
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Re: “But the SEC let us go public” and other flawed arguments in Coinbase's defense
#2It is scary to me how much legislating is done by these government bodies inside the (executive ?) branch.
I do sympathize with anyone trying to get clear requirements in black and white terms of what is and isn’t acceptable .
I think this is more of a systemic failure.
Re: “But the SEC let us go public” and other flawed arguments in Coinbase's defense
#3Sorry for the stupid questions, I really know very little about crypto. With that said,
> Gensler firmly maintains that the vast majority of crypto assets are securities, with the exception of Bitcoin
Why? From an article on Reuters[1],
> Bitcoin is not considered a security because its anonymous and open-source origins mean investor profits are not dependent on the efforts of developers or managers, said Carol Goforth, a law professor at the University of Arkansas.
How is this different from, say, Ethereum? What about when changes to the Bitcoin network are done (either directly e.g. bug fixes or indirectly such as hard forking), does this not count as "efforts of developers or managers?"
^1: https://www.reuters.com/business/finance/what-makes-crypto-a...
Re: “But the SEC let us go public” and other flawed arguments in Coinbase's defense
#4Sorry for the stupid questions, I really know very little about crypto. With that said, > Gensler firmly maintains that the vast majority of crypto assets are securities, with the exception of Bitcoin Why? From an article on Reuters[1], > Bitcoin is not considered a security because its anonymous and open-source origins mean investor profits are not dependent on the efforts of developers or managers, said Carol Gofor…
Ethereum ICO‘d and therefore doesn’t pass the Howey test.
Re: “But the SEC let us go public” and other flawed arguments in Coinbase's defense
#5Can anyone summarize what the stakes are here?
Is a loss for Coinbase a company-ending event? Or is being forced to register all the coins that aren't BTC or ETH a costly regulatory burden?
What are the implications of registering all these coins as securities? Does it affect whether they can be offered to non-accredited investors? How expensive is it? Who bears the costs?
Re: “But the SEC let us go public” and other flawed arguments in Coinbase's defense
#6It is scary to me how much legislating is done by these government bodies inside the (executive ?) branch. I do sympathize with anyone trying to get clear requirements in black and white terms of what is and isn’t acceptable . I think this is more of a systemic failure.
The entire point of Congress writing laws and delegating the specific rulemaking to agencies is so that informed experts can make the laws, with input from affected parties and the public, instead of uninformed legislators.
And note: Congress has the opportunity to reject rules passed by an agency that it determines conflicts with the intent of the governing law(s).
Re: “But the SEC let us go public” and other flawed arguments in Coinbase's defense
#7It is scary to me how much legislating is done by these government bodies inside the (executive ?) branch. I do sympathize with anyone trying to get clear requirements in black and white terms of what is and isn’t acceptable . I think this is more of a systemic failure.
The SEC is not part of the executive branch. It is an independent agency. While it is also not part of the legislative branch, the legislative branch is the one that effectively controls it.
Re: “But the SEC let us go public” and other flawed arguments in Coinbase's defense
#8Sorry for the stupid questions, I really know very little about crypto. With that said, > Gensler firmly maintains that the vast majority of crypto assets are securities, with the exception of Bitcoin Why? From an article on Reuters[1], > Bitcoin is not considered a security because its anonymous and open-source origins mean investor profits are not dependent on the efforts of developers or managers, said Carol Gofor…
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Re: “But the SEC let us go public” and other flawed arguments in Coinbase's defense
#9Can anyone summarize what the stakes are here? Is a loss for Coinbase a company-ending event? Or is being forced to register all the coins that aren't BTC or ETH a costly regulatory burden? What are the implications of registering all these coins as securities? Does it affect whether they can be offered to non-accredited investors? How expensive is it? Who bears the costs?
> Is a loss for Coinbase a company-ending event?
We don’t do that kind of thing in America except for the occasional Enron when extreme levels of fraud are involved and someone takes out California’s electrical grid to boost profits.
IANAL but these SEC violations don’t seem to fit the bill.
Re: “But the SEC let us go public” and other flawed arguments in Coinbase's defense
#10It is scary to me how much legislating is done by these government bodies inside the (executive ?) branch. I do sympathize with anyone trying to get clear requirements in black and white terms of what is and isn’t acceptable . I think this is more of a systemic failure.
The SEC is not part of the executive branch. It is an independent agency. While it is also not part of the legislative branch, the legislative branch is the one that effectively controls it.
Thanks for the insight. It does feel like the organizations ability to interpret the laws is more related to a political agency than the letter of the law.
There should just be a letter of the law , analytical meaning branch of government.