{"id":336244,"date":"2021-09-08T08:39:07","date_gmt":"2021-09-08T05:39:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/en.buradabiliyorum.com\/sec-threatens-to-sue-coinbase-over-crypto-yield-program-it-considers-a-security\/"},"modified":"2021-09-08T08:39:07","modified_gmt":"2021-09-08T05:39:07","slug":"sec-threatens-to-sue-coinbase-over-crypto-yield-program-it-considers-a-security","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/sec-threatens-to-sue-coinbase-over-crypto-yield-program-it-considers-a-security\/","title":{"rendered":"# SEC threatens to sue Coinbase over crypto yield program it considers a security"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>&#8220;<strong># SEC threatens to sue Coinbase over crypto yield program it considers a security <\/strong>&#8221;<br \/>\n<img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/images.cointelegraph.com\/images\/840_aHR0cHM6Ly9zMy5jb2ludGVsZWdyYXBoLmNvbS91cGxvYWRzLzIwMjEtMDkvNzEzNTI3NmYtZjUyYS00YjgxLWE3ZGItNDJmMzVlYmQ0YWEwLmpwZw==.jpg\" \/><\/p>\n<div class=\"post-content\" data-v-128018ef>The United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has reportedly threatened to sue Coinbase over a crypto yield program it deems as a security.<\/p>\n<p>Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong tweeted on Sept. 8 that has been some \u201creally sketchy behavior coming out of the SEC recently\u201d before launching into a 21 post thread detailing the SEC\u2019s dealings with the firm. <\/p>\n<p>Armstrong explained that the crypto exchange <a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/download-scripts-themes-apps\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"9\" title=\"Download Scripts &amp; Themes &amp; Apps\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">app<\/a>roached the SEC earlier this year to brief the enforcement body over the up-and-coming Coinbase Lend program that intends to offer 4% annual yield returns on deposits of the USDC stablecoin. <\/p>\n<p>According to the Coinbase CEO, the SEC responded by telling the firm that the lending program is a security without any explanation, and threatened to sue if the service was launched: <\/p>\n<blockquote><p>\u201cThey refuse to tell us why they think it&#8217;s a security, and instead subpoena a bunch of records from us (we comply), demand testimony from our employees (we comply), and then tell us they will be suing us if we proceed to launch, with zero explanation as to why.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>Armstrong pointed out that there are other crypto firms on the market who currently provide similar lending services to their customers, and called for the SEC to provide regulatory clarity on the topic. The SEC\u2019s actions, if Armstrong has reported them accurately, appear to be bad <a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/news\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"2\" title=\"News\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">news<\/a> for competitors BlockFi and Celsius which already offer crypto yield products. BlockFi is facing investigations in a number of states over its high-interest products. <\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">7\/ Look\u2026.we&#8217;re committed to following the law. Sometimes the law is unclear. So if the SEC wants to publish guidance, we are also happy to follow that (it&#8217;s nice if you actually enforce it evenly across the industry equally btw).<\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Brian Armstrong (@brian_armstrong) <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/brian_armstrong\/status\/1435439676429537281?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">September 8, 2021<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>In a blog post <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/blog.coinbase.com\/the-sec-has-told-us-it-wants-to-sue-us-over-lend-we-have-no-idea-why-a3a1b6507009\">published<\/a> today, Paul Grewal the Chief Legal Officer at Coinbase expressed his dismay at the SEC\u2019s actions as he questioned the assertion the lending feature can be deemed as an \u201cinvestment contract or a note.\u201d <\/p>\n<p>\u201cCustomers won\u2019t be \u2018investing\u2019 in the program, but rather lending the USDC they hold on Coinbase\u2019s platform in connection with their existing relationship. And although Lend customers will earn interest from their participation in the program, we have an obligation to pay this interest regardless of Coinbase\u2019s broader business activities,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">1\/ The SEC isn\u2019t protecting investors, or promoting fair, efficient, &amp; safe domestic crypto markets with their intimidation tactics.<\/p>\n<p>Their approach has been so poor it\u2019s indistinguishable from an active effort to *hurt* American retail investors, which looks increasingly likely. <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/nqFZKB9G1m\">https:\/\/t.co\/nqFZKB9G1m<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Ryan Selkis (@twobitidiot) <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/twobitidiot\/status\/1435450959531028481?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">September 8, 2021<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>Grewal went on to explain that the only clarification the firm has been provided is that the lending program is currently being assessed under the Howey Test:<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>\u201cThey have only told us that they are assessing our Lend product through the prism of decades-old Supreme Court cases called Howey and Reves. The SEC won\u2019t share the assessment itself, only the fact that they have done it.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">What the fuck <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/JuzFIcMpo8\">https:\/\/t.co\/JuzFIcMpo8<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Erik Voorhees (@ErikVoorhees) <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/ErikVoorhees\/status\/1435459943545511939?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">September 8, 2021<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>SEC boss Gary Gensler has regularly urged crypto firms to work with the SEC so that they can operate under public frameworks and ensure their survival. Grewal said the SEC&#8217;s actions appear to contradict Gensler\u2019s statements:<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>\u201cThe SEC has repeatedly asked our industry to \u2018talk to us, come in.\u2019 We did that here. But today all we know is that we can either keep Lend off the market indefinitely without knowing why or we can be sued.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>\u201cA healthy regulatory relationship should never leave the industry in that kind of bind without explanation. Dialogue is at the heart of good regulation,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p><strong><em>Related: <\/em><\/strong><strong><em>SEC reportedly investigates decentralized exchange Uniswap<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Grewal stated that the firm will be holding off the launch of the lending program until at least October while they wait for further feedback from the SEC.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Unclear what impact SEC news will have in the im<a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/social-mediaa\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"1\" title=\"Social Media\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">media<\/a>te, this wasn&#8217;t common knowledge and along with the dump this caught many off guard. <\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/general\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"3\" title=\"General\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">General<\/a> sense of uneasiness, didn&#8217;t make me feel good.<\/p>\n<p>I&#8217;m going to let the big boys settle the market, just watching now.<\/p>\n<p>\u2014 The Crypto Dog (@TheCryptoDog) <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/TheCryptoDog\/status\/1435452235731783681?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">September 8, 2021<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><template data-name=\"subscription_form\" data-type=\"markets_outlook\"><\/template><\/div>\n<blockquote><p><strong><span style=\"color: #ff6600;\">If you liked the article, do not forget to share it with your friends. Follow us on\u00a0<span style=\"color: #ff0000;\"><a style=\"color: #ff0000;\" href=\"https:\/\/news.google.com\/publications\/CAAqBwgKMLG0nwswvr63Aw\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\">Google News<\/a><\/span>\u00a0too, click on the star and choose us from your favorites.<\/span><\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<blockquote>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">For forums sites go to <span style=\"color: #ff9900;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/forum.buradabiliyorum.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Forum.BuradaBiliyorum.Com<\/a><\/span><\/strong>\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<blockquote>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong>If you want to read more News articles, you can visit our <span style=\"color: #ff9900;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/en.buradabiliyorum.com\/general\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">General category.<\/a><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><span style=\"color: black;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/cointelegraph.com\/news\/sec-threatens-to-sue-coinbase-over-crypto-yield-program-it-considers-a-security\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Source<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&#8220;# SEC threatens to sue Coinbase over crypto yield program it considers a security &#8221; The United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has reportedly threatened to sue Coinbase over a crypto yield program it deems as a security. Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong tweeted on Sept. 8 that has been some \u201creally sketchy behavior coming&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":336245,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/images.cointelegraph.com\/images\/1200_aHR0cHM6Ly9zMy5jb2ludGVsZWdyYXBoLmNvbS91cGxvYWRzLzIwMjEtMDkvNzEzNTI3NmYtZjUyYS00YjgxLWE3ZGItNDJmMzVlYmQ0YWEwLmpwZw==.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[74957,74956,77595,74898,117,72287],"class_list":["post-336244","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-general","tag-brian-armstrong","tag-coinbase","tag-lending","tag-sec","tag-business","tag-security"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/336244","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=336244"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/336244\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/336245"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=336244"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=336244"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=336244"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}