SEC Responds to Coinbase Request for Crypto Clarity, Seeks More Time

On June 14, Coinbase Chief Legal Officer Paul Grewal updated the situation on the SEC’s response to the company’s repeated calls for regulatory clarity.

The watchdog, which has launched an outspoken attack on the industry this year, “reiterated that they have not made any decisions on new crypto regulations,” they reported from the filing.

A few minutes ago, the SEC filed its response to last week’s Third Circuit. You can read it for yourself below, along with my own preliminary reading of it. 1/5

— paulgrewal.eth (@iampaulgrewal) June 13, 2023

SEC wants more time

The filing said the regulator wants at least four months to make a recommendation.

“Commission staff anticipates being able to make a recommendation to the Commission regarding Coinbase’s rulemaking petition within the next 120 days.”

Coinbase sent out a petition for more clarity on guidance and regulation for the new asset class in July 2022. Until recently, it has been ignored by the SEC, which continues to crack down with enforcement actions.

Grewal said the SEC refused to set any deadline despite clear orders from the court. More importantly, he said:

“They ignore the president’s clear statements that confirm he has no intention of issuing new rules, and instead confuse the evidence of a decision that the statement provides with an argument that the statement itself There is a decision.”

There has been a lot of backlash against the SEC following its direct attack on the digital asset industry.

On June 12, lawmakers in the House of Representatives filed a new bill aimed at removing Gary Gensler as SEC chairman and restructuring the financial regulator.

The move was led by Senator Warren Davidson and House Majority Whip Tom Emmer. “American capital markets must be protected from a tyrannical president, including the current one,” Davidson said.

crypto market update

Crypto markets haven’t really reacted to any news this week and have remained in consolidation. Total market capitalization rose just under one percentage point that day to reach $1.1 trillion.

BTC price recovered above $26,000 during the Asian trading session on Wednesday morning, but remained range-bound. There is no change in Ethereum price which remains at $1,744 at the time of writing.

BNB was the only asset to recover on the day with a 7.6% gain as the court urged Binance.US and the SEC to reach a settlement and avoid an asset freeze.