Coinbase (NYSE: COIN) submitted a petition to the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) asking the regulator to clarify which digital assets it considers to be securities
Coinbase (NYSE: COIN) submitted a petition to the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) asking the regulator to clarify which digital assets it considers to be securities.
The company stressed the importance of establishing guardrails, given the market meltdown that has wiped out trillions of dollars and bankrupted several companies.
“The U.S. does not currently have a functioning market in digital asset securities due to the lack of a clear and workable regulatory regime,” read Coinbase’s petition.
Currently the SEC holds the view that most digital assets are securities and requires exchanges to register with the agency. The regulator has pushed back, though, on the notion that it needs to go through and identify each token that fits the securities definition, saying it doesn’t do that for any other markets.
Meanwhile chief policy offer at Coinbase, Faryar Shirzad said that “crypto markets are different”, adding that the SEC’s failure to adapt its regulations to cryptocurrency markets leaves investors at risk, constrains investment and “is wholly inconsistent with the SEC’s mission.”
Coinbase’s criticism of the regulator highlights the deep divide that runs between crypto firms and regulators, with the latter having increased their scrutiny of crypto markets.