The SEC asks Coinbase to delist all crypto except bitcoin

Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong said the SEC asked the platform to remove any assets other than Bitcoin from its list. All crypto assets except Bitcoin were, in fact, securities and had to be removed from the list, the regulator said. According to Armstrong, accepting this request would lead to the end of the crypto industry.

Withdrawal of any asset constituting a security

In an interview with the Financial Times on July 31, Brian Armstrong revealed that the SEC wanted Coinbase to delist any assets other than bitcoin (BTC). According to the regulator, the 250 tokens available on the platform constitute a security. As they are unregistered securities, they must be removed from the platform. Armstrong asked the SEC how it had come to this conclusion, as it was not their interpretation of the law.

JUST IN – The SEC told Coinbase “you need to delist every asset other than bitcoin.”

“We believe every asset other than #bitcoin is a security.” pic.twitter.com/wlG6J6qew1

— Bitcoin Magazine (@BitcoinMagazine) July 31, 2023

Gary Gensler, Chairman of the SEC, shares this sentiment. In an interview with New York Magazine, he stated that anything other than Bitcoin is a security under the SEC’s jurisdiction. The Financial Times reports that accepting such a request “would have essentially meant the end of the crypto industry in the U.S.”, according to Coinbase’s CEO.

Crypto industry surveillance intensifies

It should be noted that the SEC’s request to remove the crypto assets is unofficial, the SEC told the Financial Times. According to Armstrong’s revelations, the SEC would file a lawsuit against the exchange if it did not agree to delist the assets. Moreover, the regulator alleged that Coinbase was operating as an unregistered exchange.

Both the SEC and the CFTC have taken action against players in the cryptocurrency industry. The SEC had also previously filed a complaint against Binance. Clearer legislation on the crypto industry is becoming a necessity in the face of this kind of situation.