Supreme Court Sides With Crypto To Push SEC Out

Many crypto businesses are hoping that a new US Supreme Court doctrine will set a legal precedent that could theoritically force the SEC to step aside, however federal regulators remain skeptical.

In a decision issued last June, the Supreme Court sided with states challenging the authority of the EPA to regulate greenhouse gas emissions. The institution had decided to adopt a formal doctrine that actively seeks to limit the power of federal agencies.

According to the doctrine, Congress should not delegate deciding the fate of extraordinary cases involving matters of significant political and economic impact to federal agencies such as the EPA or SEC.

In its April 2023 response to the Wells notice issued to the exchange by the SEC, Coinbase talked about how the agency has no authority to make crypto decisions unilaterally, especially when it comes to token classification.

In response to the request made by Coinbase for more regulatory clarity in the crypto space, Gary Gensler claimed that this industry has more than enough information to operate within the legal framework of the country.

Gensler further stated that many cryptocurrencies have been non-compliant in the past, and that the SEC has issued rules defining what it means to be an exchange, a broker dealer, an advisor or custody asset, and how to register a securities offering.

Those rules exist, Gensler continued, before saying that there is nothing about crypto or any new technology for that matter which would make it incompatible with pre-existing public policies.