Amid the ongoing situation, the CEO of the cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase, Brian Armstrong, made a surprising announcement that the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has requested Coinbase to delist all types of cryptocurrencies on their platform, except for Bitcoin. This action by the SEC is seen as an attempt to assert their regulatory authority over the cryptocurrency industry.
On June 6th, the SEC filed a lawsuit against Coinbase, accusing them of violating federal securities laws. At that time, the SEC claimed that 13 major cryptocurrencies traded on Coinbase were securities, and cited this as the reason for investigating the exchange for providing them to customers.
The request to delist over 200 tokens on Coinbase, excluding Bitcoin, has sparked anger and strong opposition from the exchange. They argue that under the leadership of Gary Gensler, the SEC has been abusing its power over the cryptocurrency industry.
If Coinbase agrees to comply with the SEC’s demand, it could set a precedent that may lead to many U.S. cryptocurrency businesses being considered illegal unless they register with the Commission. However, instead of negotiating, Coinbase has firmly stated that they will go to court and fight the SEC.
Currently, both the SEC and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) are vying for regulatory control over the cryptocurrency industry.