The Commission now views 61 digital assets as ‘securities’, including BUSD, ADA, SOL, and mAssets.
Over the past few months, the US Securities and Exchanges Commission (SEC) has had the US crypto industry in a chokehold, culminating yesterday in the dramatic SEC v. Binance lawsuit.
Some of the 13 charges made against the exchange include mishandling customers’ funds, misleading investors and a “blatant disregard” of securities law.
The lawsuit has brought the total number of digital assets the SEC views as “securities” to a staggering 61.
Read more: Binance woes continue: SEC sues CEO Zhao for breaking securities rules
The 10 new cryptocurrencies added to the list include BNB, BUSD, SOL, ADA, MATIC, ATOM, SAND, MANA, AXIS and COTI. Four of these are top 10 cryptocurrencies in terms of market capitalisation.
13 Mirror Protocol mAssets are also deemed as securities, including Mirrored Apple Inc. (mAAPL), Mirrored Amazon.com, Inc. (mAMZN) and Mirrored Alphabet Inc. (mGOOGL).
This rounds up the coins the SEC regards as securities to US$115 billion, according to Bloomberg.
The important question is: are cryptocurrencies securities?
There are some similarities between securities and cryptocurrencies, such as investment potential, risk and market activity, but the differences between them are fundamental.
A security is a financial instrument that represents a certain value or ownership in an entity, and they are used to raise capital or facilitate investments. Common types of securities include stocks, bonds, and derivatives. Securities transactions typically involve intermediaries, such as brokers, exchanges, and custodians, who facilitate the buying, selling, and safekeeping of securities.
Cryptocurrencies on the other hand operate via decentralised networks, eliminating the need for intermediaries. Transactions can be peer-to-peer, with ownership and transfers recorded on an immutable blockchain. In addition, many cryptocurrencies, namely Bitcoin, were designed to be mediums of peer-peer exchange, rather than to facilitate investment.
Binance has maintained that its native token, BNB, is not a security.
A Binance spokesperson told Forekast today that BNB is “a native token, designed to create an internal economy; thus, its value derives from its participants.”
Clearly frustrated with the SEC’s enforcement action, Zhao conducted a provocative Twitter poll this morning asking users “who protects you more, the SEC or Binance?”
Twitter responded with resounding support for the crypto exchange. This is perhaps unsurprising, given that Twitter is the defacto digital home of crypto communities.
A full list of digital assets the SEC views as ‘securities’.
Tokens:
Ripple (XRP), Telegram’s Gram (TON), LBRY Credits (LBC), OmiseGo (OMG), DASH (DASH), Algorand (ALGO), Naga (NGC), Monolith (TKN), IHT Real Estate (IHT), Power Ledger (POWR), Kromatica (KROM), DFX Finance (DFX), Amp (AMP), Rally (RLY), Rari Governance Token (RGT), DerivaDAO (DDX), XYO Network (XYO), Liechtenstein Cryptoasset Exchange (LCX), Kin (KIN) Salt Lending (SALT), Beaxy Token (BXY), DragonChain (DRGN), Tron (TRX), BitTorrent (BTT), Terra USD (UST), Luna (LUNA), Mirror Protocol (MIR), Mango (MNGO), Ducat (DUCAT), Locke (LOCKE), EthereumMax (EMAX), Hydro (HYDRO), BitConnect (BCC), Meta 1 Coin (META1), Filecoin (FIL), BNB (BNB), Binance USD (BUSD), Solana (SOL), Cardano (ADA), Polygon (MATIC), Cosmos (ATOM), The Sandbox (SAND), Decentraland (MANA), Axie Infinity (AXS), COTI (COTI), Paragon (PRG) and AirToken (AIR).
mAssets (Mirrored Assets):
Mirrored Apple Inc. (mAAPL), Mirrored Amazon.com, Inc. (mAMZN), Mirrored Alibaba Group Holding Limited (mBABA), Mirrored Alphabet Inc. (mGOOGL), Mirrored Microsoft Corporation (mMSFT), Mirrored Netflix, Inc. (mNFLX), Mirrored Tesla, Inc. (mTSLA), Mirrored Twitter Inc. (mTWTR), Mirrored iShares Gold Trust (mIAU), Mirrored Invesco QQQ Trust (mQQQ), Mirrored iShares Silver Trust (mSLV), Mirrored United States Oil Fund, LP (mUSO), Mirrored ProShares VIX Short-Term Futures ETF (mVIXY).
Disclaimer: CryptoPlug does not recommend that any cryptocurrency should be bought, sold, or held by you. Do conduct your own due diligence and consult your financial advisor before making any investment decisions.
