Cryptocurrency bigwigs Coinbase and Binance have recently been put under the legal magnifying glass, which has sparked some serious commentary from SEC Chair Gary Gensler. During a live television interview, he put it simply, “We have enough digital currency.”
Gensler, armed with a strong conviction, emphasized that the U.S. dollar, euro, and yen have already ventured into the digital realm, rendering the need for additional digital currencies redundant. His remarks followed the SEC’s hot off the press announcement about their lawsuits against the homegrown digital currency platform, Coinbase, and the world’s biggest crypto exchange, Binance.
Speaking about crypto trading platforms, Gensler pointed out an interesting anomaly: unlike traditional financial exchanges, these platforms attempt to play multiple roles simultaneously. He likened this to the New York Stock Exchange operating a hedge fund while concurrently making markets, a practice unheard of in conventional finance.
The allegations against Binance echo the charges previously made against the now-defunct crypto exchange FTX and its sibling trading firm, Alameda Research. These charges raised eyebrows with claims of misuse of customer funds, possible market manipulation of native tokens, and blending company and customer assets.
Gensler stressed that the SEC lawsuits against Coinbase and Binance were long overdue, given the substantial investigative work required to build such a case. He also expressed the SEC’s continuous efforts to engage in dialogue with crypto platforms and bring them into compliance with U.S. securities laws. According to Gensler, the SEC’s message seems to have fallen on defiant ears, with many adopting a daring ‘catch us if you can’ attitude.