The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has increased uncertainty in the market with its recently filed lawsuit against several digital asset-related firms and personalities. As the crypto market moves to recover from the lows of 2022, a former SEC executive issued a warning that enforcement may continue ahead.
John Reed Stark, former Chief of the US SEC’s Office of Internet Enforcement is positive that the market will continue to see more lawsuits ahead. He stated that the crypto industry is in the midst of a regulatory onslaught.
Stark mentioned that the commission will not be going to stand idle and that too at a time when investors are at risk. Every day, it seems like there is a new lawsuit coming targeting the crypto industry, he added.
However, the former chief compared the enforced rules with seatbelt laws and highlighted that sometimes investors need protection from themselves.
In recent developments, the commission sent a “Wells Notice” to US biggest crypto exchange, Coinbase. This comes after Gensler called out that several tokens and products offered by exchanges are securities. This suggests that Coinbase is surely next on the SEC list of targets, as a Wells Notice is a warning issued for the commission to file a lawsuit.
Coingape reported that Coinbase CEO, Brian Armstrong met with the US SEC seeking clear rules for crypto firms in the country. However, he asked the regulators to set clear policies and then try to enforce them.
US SEC Chair, Gary Gensler has already launched severe enforcement actions against some top crypto firms. This includes digital asset lender Genesis and exchanges like Kraken and Gemini.
Binance, the world’s largest crypto exchange was recently served with a civil enforcement action by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC). The complaint charged Changpeng Zhao (CZ), Binance CEO with the Commodity Exchange Act (CEA) and CFTC regulations.