SEC Sues Binance, Coinbase: ‘This Is Not the End of Crypto in the United States’- Ep. 504

On Monday, it was Binance. On Tuesday, Coinbase. Electric Capital General Counsel Emily Meyers joins the show to read between the lines of an action-packed week for Gary Gensler’s SEC. Meyers lends her lawyerly eye to the key differences between the two lawsuits, the SEC’s potential strategy, and whether federal legislation will beat the courts in providing clarity. 

Listen to the episode on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Overcast, Podcast Addict, Pocket Casts, Stitcher, Castbox, Google Podcasts, TuneIn, Amazon Music, or on your favorite podcast platform.

Show highlights:

• why Emily thinks the SEC’s actions don’t represent the end of crypto in the U.S.
• what the similarities and differences are in the lawsuits against Coinbase and Binance
• why it’s fundamental to the SEC’s allegations that the court determines that at least one of the named tokens is in fact a security
• whether Coinbase and Binance will file motions to dismiss
• whether allegations against Binance are comparable to those against FTX
• whether Gary Gensler’s interactions with Binance in 2019 raise ethical questions about his involvement in the case 
• why Emily thinks that Gensler’s approach to crypto is not aligned with the SEC’s mission to protect investors
• why the SEC allowed Coinbase to go public and is now suing them
• how the SEC sued Coinbase only after the exchange sued the agency first
• whether the Third Circuit will press the SEC to issue the rules that Coinbase has petitioned for
• why Emily believes that there’s not an effective path for crypto companies to properly register in the U.S.
• why the SEC has listed large-market-cap tokens such as SOL, ADA, and MATIC but has not gone after ETH

• Crypto.com
• Copilot Money
• Proton

• Emily Meyers, general counsel at Electric Capital

• Previous coverage of Unchained on the topic:
• The Chopping Block: Jake Chervinsky on How the SEC Has Lost Credibility
• These 2 Crypto Trading Platforms Agree With SEC Chair Gary Gensler
• Coinbase's Legal Action Against the SEC: How It Will Likely Unfold 
• ‘Is ETH a Security?’ Why Gary Gensler Couldn’t Give Congress a Straight Answer
• Gary Gensler vs. Crypto: What Will the SEC Attack Next?
• Rep. Emmer on Why He Believes Gary Gensler Is a ‘Bad-Faith Regulator’
• LINKS
• Unchained:
• SEC Sues Coinbase for Breaking Securities Laws
• SEC Files Motion to Freeze Binance’s Assets, Asks for ‘Sworn Accounting’
• SEC Files 13 Charges Against Binance Including the Mishandling of Funds, Sale of Unregistered Securities
• SEC Calls Solana, Polygon, Algorand and Other Tokens Securities but Misses Ether in Binance Lawsuit
• US House Republicans Propose Bill That May Give Crypto Assets a Path to Becoming Commodities
• Coinbase Seeks to Compel SEC Response to Rulemaking Petition
• CoinDesk: 
• SEC Seeks Temporary Restraining Order to Freeze Binance.US Assets
• Crypto Exchange Binance Says Gensler Once Offered to Be an 'Informal Advisor'
• Binance Redirected $12B to Firms Controlled by CEO Changpeng Zhao, SEC Says
• Fortune: Former Coinbase employee and his brother settle with the SEC, which again dodges proving whether cryptocurrencies are securities

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