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SEC Crypto Enforcement Actions Raise More Questions Than Answers

By Ladan Stewart
August 01, 2024

For years, the crypto industry has raised serious concerns about the lack of "regulatory clarity" in the cryptocurrency space. The industry has challenged the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to issue new rules specific to cryptocurrencies and has lobbied Congress to enact legislation to address what many perceive to be regulatory gaps in this area. The SEC's counter has been consistent: the law is clear — the legal test outlined in the 1946 Supreme Court case SEC v. Howey, the SEC has maintained, provides the necessary clarity on the rules and regulations governing the crypto industry.

The industry finally got the legal decision it had been waiting for last July from a Southern District of New York judge in the SEC's enforcement case against Ripple Labs. The Ripple decision was hailed as vindication for the industry's position that the SEC lacks the proper legal authority to regulate crypto. Many saw that decision as the death-knell for the SEC's crypto enforcement program.

In the ensuing months, however, the tides seemed to turn again, this time in the SEC's favor, as two other judges in the Southern District of New York disagreed with and departed from the Ripple decision. Now, almost one year later, another judge, this time in the District of Columbia, has endorsed the reasoning in Ripple and dealt another serious blow to the SEC.

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