I'm not American and I can't speak on behalf of the SEC either but anybody in this industry can't help but notice that the SEC have a distinct anti crypto agenda over the past couple of years and have launched attacks against several established projects (Whether you like them or not is irrelevant), like Ripple, Libry, Coinbase, Binance, BUSD and going forward almost all stable coins it is safe to assume. Just to name a few.
They almost always make reference to securities when they attack these targets even though from what i have read none of these projects would actually fit this tag and therefore not be liable to be targeted under it's legislation. The SEC seem to think of their securities law as a general point of attack that can be used for any and all crypto's regardless of how they actually operate.
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has not provided a single, definitive definition of "crypto" or "cryptocurrency." Instead, the SEC has taken the position that the application of securities laws to digital assets, including cryptocurrencies, will depend on the particular facts and circumstances of each case.
The SEC has, however, provided guidance on what factors it considers when determining whether a particular cryptocurrency qualifies as a security under U.S. federal securities laws.
- Investment of money.
- Expectation of profit.
- Common Enterprise
- Efforts of others.
It's a tricky one going forward but what is obvious is that there is a going to be a big battle at some stage to properly define cryptocurrencies and what legislation that they fall under or whether new legislation needs to be drawn up.
this will probably happen if the SEC start to lose a lot of the court cases related to crypto projects when they find that they can't label everything as a security and put a stop to it which will happen sooner or later.
You can read into this in more detail in a recent article from coindesk that go through some of the new policies here.
Why do they hate crypto so much?
There are lots of reasons why they are attacking the crypto industry under the guise of trying to make it safer but for me the word that stands out is control. They want to control everything that is going on in their country and outside of it.
They hate that there is an industry out there which hasn't been reined in yet and subject to the whims of the controlling powers. It hurts them. I'm sure that they get a pain every time that bitcoin makes a progressive move or another country adopts it as a currency which weakens the dollar and America's control over it's poorer neighbors. The same goes for China. It's no surprise that the countries most against the industry are the strongest ones while the countries that are most welcome to change are the ones who's current economy is being held under water at the whims of more powerful governments. There is power in money and Bitcoin can lead to a change in the status quo.
Negative Nations.
- America
- China
- India
Positive Nations.
- El Salvador
- Malta
- Switzerland.
The line isn't precisely along the monetary line with countries like Nigeria very anti crypto and Switzerland pro but it's a fair indicator.
Why the established nations don't like crypto.
Lack of control.
As i said above. If you control the money, then you control the people. It's always been the case looking back at older empires and the consolidation of wealth. Money bought armies, which bought control. If the people have more money tan the established elite then the balance of power shifts which doesn't suit the existing power holders.
Financial Instability.
If the government money is no longer the most important form of currency in the country then it could hurt the economy as they use it to balance the books. Look at how much money the USA have printed in the past decade. If people value Bitcoin more than the USD then they might not be able to print their way out of trouble anymore and existing currency gets devalued. That could have severe ramifications on the country and it's government.
Lack of understanding.
This is a big one for the future as crypto is such abroad industry that it will take a long time for older generations to understand and to regulate effectively. IT's so new and moving so fast that the people in positions of power are trying to catch up and that is where a lot of the conflict lies. Lack of knowledge between the regulators and the builders.
Potential for illegal activities.
This one goes back to that last point and is a non runner for me. It's used as a stick to beat the industry with and some clear guidelines for exchanges and businesses would cut out a lot of the scams. The rest has nothing to do with crypto, I can commit illegal activities with cash or card if i want to. And people have been doing it since gold was a unit of currency. There are always people up to no good and crypto isn't going to effect that one way or the other.