Kraken sued by the SEC

[qwizzie]

Kraken Accused by SEC of Operating Unregistered Platform, Improperly Mixing Customer Funds.
The U.S. crypto exchange is the latest targeted by the Securities and Exchange Commission in a series of similar actions being fought in court by other companies.

Source : https://www.coindesk.com/policy/202...ed-platform-improperly-mixing-customer-funds/

SEC complaint referred in that article (article contains a link to a 90 pages pdf file) mentions the following :

In fact, Kraken currently makes available for trading crypto assets that have been the subject of prior SEC
enforcement actions based upon their status as crypto asset securities, including crypto assets trading under the symbols
ADA, AXS, ALGO, ATOM, CHZ, COTI, DASH, FIL, FLOW, ICP, MANA, MATIC, NEAR, OMG, SAND, and SOL, which were alleged
in one or more of the following actions against other unregistered intermediaries:
SEC v. Bittrex, No. 2:23-cv-580 (W.D. Wash. filed April 17, 2023);
SEC v. Binance Holdings Ltd., Civ. No. 23-1599 (D.D.C. filed June 5, 2023);
SEC v. Coinbase, Inc., No. 23-cv-4738 (S.D.N.Y. filed June 6, 2023).

Nevertheless, set forth herein are details regarding a non-exhaustive list of 11 crypto asset securities available on the Kraken Trading Platform and through the Kraken Services under the following trading symbols: ADA, ALGO, ATOM, FIL, FLOW, ICP, MANA, MATIC, NEAR, OMG, and SOL (the “Kraken-Traded Securities”).

So Dash is still viewed by the SEC as a security, but it is not part of the lawsuit against Kraken. I guess proving Dash is a security under the Howey test, is just a bit too difficult for the SEC, so the SEC is going after easier cryptocoin / crypto token targets.

Ironically Kraken recentely already achieved EU regulation compliance. Kraken achieved compliance by registering in Ireland as a Virtual Asset Service Provider (VASP) & Electronic Money Institution (EMI) licence under MiCa regulation (to be in effect somewhere in 2024), which will give Kraken unlimited access to the whole of the European Union.

See :

https://blog.kraken.com/news/kraken...service-provider-vasp-registration-in-ireland
https://blog.kraken.com/news/kraken...-secures-eu-e-money-license-and-vasp-in-spain

So Kraken got the heat of the US regulators on them, while also about to gain access to the whole EU when MiCa regulation comes into effect. This just shows how unbalanced the crypto regulation approach is, between the US and the EU. One is a crypto hostile approach, the other a far more crypto friendly approach.

Strange that the SEC is still engaging in this hostile regulation policy, after Ripple recentely won a large portion of its case against the SEC.
Are ADA, ALGO, ATOM, FIL, FLOW, ICP, MANA, MATIC, NEAR, OMG, and SOL that different from XRP ?

 

[GrandMasterDash]

If the SEC can't figure out the Howey test - which is outdated anyway - then what hope is there for them to understand the inner workings of dash? If they knew how dash works then yes, dash is a security because the legal entity known as DCG abuses governance and sporks to significant'y influence the dash ecosystem. Decentralized systems do not have legal entities, and certainly not under the jurisdiction of the SEC.

Having said that, I really couldn't care less what the SEC says, or any other authority. Nor do I care what the EU says because they are just as evil as the SEC, their intentions are not good. These regulators operate under divide-and-conquer, evolving rules to what is allowed and not allowed. Rules that are vague enough that exchanges invariably take the most cautious path, which basically means no privacy.

Regardless of what I think of dash and the SEC, I do like how so many people are standing up and pushing back against the SEC. At the same time I think it's a stupid thing to do because many of these people are effectively seeking consent / exemption.

The only truly interesting projects are FU money, to which dash just about passes, but needs to be a lot better.