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by joefigura 1183 days ago
The SEC's position is that some crypto coins are securities. Gambling, hookers, political donations, and non-profit donations are all regulated.

Securities are regulated even more tightly because it's *really* easy to commit fraud and fleece people of their money by lying about investments. Capitalism works because most people trust that they can make investments without being defrauded.

With hookers, non-profit donations, political donations, drugs, overpriced art, etc., the consumer knows more or less what they're getting. Lots of crypto coins are scams, and it's reasonable for the government to regulate them

That said, as Coinbase complains, the SEC is doing a really bad job of regulating crypto securities in a usable way.
2 comments
trompetenaccoun 1183 days ago
That isn't what the argument is about. Neither does Coinbase argue the SEC is in charge of regulating what isn't a security, nor do even other branches of the government agree. The CFTC says they're in charge of regulating most cryptocurrencies.
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thepasswordis 1183 days ago
Are sneakers, pokemon cards, and art collections regulated?

What if I buy some sneakers thinking I'm going to flip them and then I lose money?

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joefigura 1183 days ago
No. They aren't investment contracts. They're just sneakers.

The SEC regulates the market for investment contracts (securities). The CFTC regulates the market for commodities. The legal point is that the SEC says Coinbase is a securities market, but haven't made a specific accusation, and Coinbase disagrees. But if some digital assets are securities, then the SEC definitely has jurisdiction.

Nobody regulates the pokemon card market or sneaker market. I suppose congress could decide that it's super important to regulate sneakers, and set up the Sneakers and Exchange Comission. But they haven't yet

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HWR_14 1183 days ago
The securities/commodities division is so strange, I find it hard to parse. Like, I understand "shares of stock" are different from "corn". Sure. But then you get into strange things and it's unclear which they are.
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wiradikusuma 1183 days ago
You can wear them?
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