Mark Cuban fears the SEC could cripple crypto and cause the U.S. economy to miss out on trillions.
Billionaire crypto investor Mark Cuban has said Coinbase needs to be “aggressive” in its current battle with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.
As we reported yesterday, the exchange says it is being faced with legal action by the regulator that’s related to the planned launch of a new lending product.
Coinbase’s CEO Brian Armstrong has accused the SEC of “sketchy behavior” — and its legal officer says that, despite the company cooperating with officials, it is unclear why this threat is being made.
Wall Street didn’t react well to the prospect of a stand-off in the courts. Coinbase’s stock ended the day down 3.23%. Priced at $258 as of Wednesday’s close, COIN is once again perilously close to the reference price of $250 that was set when the exchange first made its stock market debut in April.
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Why This Matters
On Twitter, Mark Cuban has warned that the worst-case scenario is that the SEC gets a judgment “that cripples crypto/DeFi and moves it even further offshore.” He said this could kill trillions of dollars in economic benefit for the U.S. — and called for the industry to receive the types of exemptions that the internet did in the 1990s.
James K. Filan, a former federal prosecutor, also warned:
“The SEC will stop at nothing to control the entire crypto space.”
He also referenced the ongoing fight between the regulator and Ripple. Executives at that company have been accused of misleading investors about XRP, profiting to the tune of $600 million, and failing to take heed of legal advice that the cryptocurrency could be regarded as a security.
Ripple’s CEO Brad Garlinghouse had a tongue-in-cheek response when Brian Armstrong tweeted about the situation that Coinbase finds itself in — sharing a GIF that included the caption:
“Welcome to the party, pal.”
