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The American businessman, philanthropist, and television personality Mark Cuban criticized the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) for providing misleading guidance regarding which digital currencies qualify as securities.
The agency has been hostile toward the crypto sector, recently filing lawsuits against two of the largest exchanges, Binance and Coinbase. It also asserted that several leading digital assets, including BNB, SOL, ADA, and MATIC, operate as unregistered securities.
The SEC Treats Crypto Differently
Cuban, the billionaire owner of the Dallas Mavericks, is among those who believe the Commission has failed to adequately supervise the cryptocurrency sector and determine which tokens classify as securities versus commodities.
In a recent post on X (formerly Twitter), Cuban claimed that the regulator’s public statements on the matter differ from its official position on its website. He noted that the lengthy guidance does not clarify “what is or is not a security in the crypto universe.” He further stated that one could not determine the status of various digital currencies even with “an army of securities lawyers.”
Cuban argues that the SEC applies double standards when discussing crypto compared to other aspects of finance. He pointed out that the agency, led by Gary Gensler, recently described the stock loan industry as “opaque” and in need of greater transparency. However, unlike the digital asset sector, it did not classify “stock loans” as securities nor file lawsuits against brokers or banks involved in that space.
“They should do the same thing with crypto as an effort to determine which aspects of crypto are securities and which are not and the best way to regulate the industry and protect investors. I think their difference in approach is emblematic of their intent for one industry vs another,” he concluded.
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Mark Cuban, Source: CNBC
The SEC’s War on Crypto
The agency’s antagonistic stance toward the industry intensified last week. It sued the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange, Binance, its CEO Changpeng Zhao (CZ), and the company’s American subsidiary, Binance.US.
The primary accusation is that the platform operated “unregistered national securities exchanges, broker-dealers, and clearing agencies.” According to the regulator, Binance’s unlicensed products include certain lending offerings, a staking program, its native token BNB, and the fiat-backed stablecoin BUSD.
The SEC followed up with another lawsuit against Coinbase a day later, alleging that the exchange acted as a broker, national securities exchange, and clearing agency without obtaining the necessary authorization.
The regulator also claimed that well-known cryptocurrencies such as Solana (SOL), Cardano (ADA), and Polygon (MATIC) are securities, accusing Coinbase of offering trading services for them.
“Coinbase has elevated its interest in increasing its profits over investors’ interests and over compliance with the law and the regulatory framework that governs the securities markets,” the Commission stated.
Notably, Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao and Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong remained unfazed by the accusations. Zhao tweeted his signature number, “4,” urging followers not to trust fake news or misleading information. Armstrong stated that his exchange would be “proud” to represent the crypto sector in its legal battle with the SEC, assuring, “we will get the job done.”
