‘there’s been clarity for years’

• SEC sued Coinbase for violating U.S. securities laws today.
• Chair Gary Gensler discussed on CNBC’s “Squawk on the Street”.
• Coinbase stock opened nearly 20% down on Tuesday.

Coinbase Global Inc opened nearly 20% down on Tuesday after the SEC sued the crypto exchange for violating the U.S. securities laws.

Gensler discussed the lawsuit on CNBC

Crypto companies including Coinbase have been demanding more clarity from the U.S. regulator for the longest time.

Interestingly, though, Gary Gensler – Chair of the Securities and Exchange Commission denied today that there’s been a lack of clarity in the first place.

There’s been clarity for years. The investing public has benefit of securities laws. Crypto shouldn’t be different. These platforms need to come into compliance and protect investing public.

Coinbase is still up roughly 45% for the year. A day earlier, the U.S. SEC had filed a similar complaint against Binance and its CEO Changpeng Zhao as well.

Gensler says USD is already a digital currency

On CNBC’s “Squawk on the Street”, Chair Gensler also contested the need for more digital currencies especially since about 16,000 of them are already tradable via Coinbase.

We already have digital currency, the U.S. dollar, the Euro, the Yen. They’re all digital. We have digital investments. So, what’s the real underlying value of these tokens?

He also confirmed that going after Coinbase and Binance wasn’t an abrupt decision. The regulator has had discussions with these companies that have a business model based entirely on non-compliance with the securities laws, Gensler added.

Remember that the SEC has so far failed to prove that XRP is a security in a lawsuit it filed way back in December 2020.