SEC Chair Gensler: Coinbase Should Register With Regulator

SEC Chair Gary Gensler wants to boost the agency’s headcount to better regulate crypto.

AccessTimeIconSep 14, 2021 at 9:07 p.m. UTC
Updated May 11, 2023 at 6:36 p.m. UTC
10 Years of Decentralizing the Future
May 29-31, 2024 - Austin, TexasThe biggest and most established global hub for everything crypto, blockchain and Web3.Register Now

U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Chair Gary Gensler warned that crypto exchanges like Coinbase should register with the regulator, an escalation of his previous statements regarding whether crypto trading platforms qualify as securities exchanges.

Gensler told the Senate Banking Committee on Tuesday that the SEC, like other federal regulatory agencies, does not have direct oversight over crypto exchanges, in response to a hypothetical scenario from Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) about selling cryptocurrencies during last week’s exchange outages.

“They haven’t yet registered with us, even though they have dozens of tokens that may be securities,” Gensler said.

That is the most explicit Gensler has been about having crypto trading platforms register as a securities trading platform. In prepared remarks for the committee published Monday, he wrote that any exchange that has a security listed must register with the SEC.

At the time, he did not name any specific companies. Warren used Coinbase as an example during a question about whether crypto actually bolsters financial inclusion.

“Let’s say that last Monday, I took out the last sliver of my savings, I went on the crypto exchange Coinbase, I bought $100 worth of ether, and then I woke up early on Tuesday morning, I saw that the market looked like it was beginning to tank and I thought I better sell right now, but when I tried to sell Coinbase, the exchange was down,” she said.

Gensler broadened his pitch for greater regulatory oversight of the crypto markets by asking for more resources to regulate different projects.

Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto (D-Nev.) asked if the SEC was sufficiently equipped to regulate crypto. Gensler said Congress can help coordinate oversight among banking regulators, as well as stablecoin supervision.

“I think funding wise we could use a lot more people. I just have to be frank with you, I mean there’s 6,000 projects. And while some of those are commodities, many of them are securities under the law,” he said.

A call for clarity

Sen. Pat Toomey (R-Pa.), one of the senators who pushed for an amendment to the Senate’s bipartisan infrastructure bill to narrow the definition of a “crypto broker” in a tax provision, pushed Gensler on a lack of explicit guidance on how a cryptocurrency might qualify as a security under federal law.

“A really important question is whether a cryptocurrency is a security for regulatory purposes under the Howey or some other tests. Based on your public statements, it’s pretty clear that you believe that some are securities, but others are not. So I’m frustrated by the lack of helpful SEC public guidance, explaining how you make this distinction. What makes some of them securities, while others are not securities,” Toomey asked in his opening remarks.

For his part, Gensler said in his remarks that “a small number” of cryptocurrencies are not securities, but he believes many are.

Toomey brought the issue up again during the back-and-forth segment of the hearing, asking about stablecoins as one example.

While Gensler pointed to different features of judicial precedent, including the Supreme Court’s “Reves” case, Toomey reiterated that his key point is a lack of explicit guidance from the SEC.

“I’m just saying as a layman who can read English, when I read those tests, stablecoins don’t seem to meet that test to me,” he said. “Maybe I’m wrong, but if I can misinterpret this, I think others could too and clarity, public clarity could be helpful.”

Disclosure

Please note that our privacy policy, terms of use, cookies, and do not sell my personal information has been updated.

CoinDesk is an award-winning media outlet that covers the cryptocurrency industry. Its journalists abide by a strict set of editorial policies. In November 2023, CoinDesk was acquired by the Bullish group, owner of Bullish, a regulated, digital assets exchange. The Bullish group is majority-owned by Block.one; both companies have interests in a variety of blockchain and digital asset businesses and significant holdings of digital assets, including bitcoin. CoinDesk operates as an independent subsidiary with an editorial committee to protect journalistic independence. CoinDesk employees, including journalists, may receive options in the Bullish group as part of their compensation.

Nikhilesh De

Nikhilesh De is CoinDesk's managing editor for global policy and regulation. He owns marginal amounts of bitcoin and ether.


Learn more about Consensus 2024, CoinDesk's longest-running and most influential event that brings together all sides of crypto, blockchain and Web3. Head to consensus.coindesk.com to register and buy your pass now.



Read more about