The SEC-Binance lawsuit of June 5 sparked controversy over well-established altcoin projects. Reports suggest that 61 altcoins, including ADA, SOL, BNB, declared as ‘securities’ by the US regulator, could potentially be caught in the middle of a ‘delist storm’.
SEC-Binance lawsuit could push these altcoins away from centralized exchanges
The lawsuit that emerged yesterday dragged the Bitcoin price to $25,400. As Binance and its CEO CZ try to tackle the problem, the SEC is now preparing to classify a total of 61 cryptocurrencies as ‘securities’.
The US regulator has designated 10 cryptocurrencies as securities under the Binance lawsuit. With this move, the number of altcoins included in this class reached 61. The altcoins that were labeled as securities under the Binance lawsuit yesterday are as follows:
- Cardano [ADA]
- Left [LEFT]
- Binance Coin [BNB]
- Binance USD [BUSD]
- Polygon [MATIC]
- The Sandbox [SAND]
- Axie Infinity [AXS]
- Decentraland [MANA]
- COTI [COTI]
- Cosmos [ATOM]
Today we charged Binance Holdings Ltd. (Binance); U.S.-based affiliate, BAM Trading Services Inc., which, together with Binance, operates https://t.co/swcxioZKVP; and their founder, Changpeng Zhao, with a variety of securities law violations.https://t.co/H1wgGgR5ir pic.twitter.com/IWTb7Et86H
— U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (@SECGov) June 5, 2023
Following the SEC’s lawsuit against Binance, the number of altcoins classified as unregistered securities has increased. It covers an extensive list of cryptocurrencies currently carrying around $115 billion in volume.
Meanwhile, it should be noted that XRP, which experienced a similar situation in late 2020, was delisted from Coinbase and other major centralized exchanges in the following weeks. Tougher moves from the USA will put a total of 61 cryptocurrencies in a difficult situation, with the 10 recently added altcoins.
Here are other altcoins under the SEC’s securities radar
The SEC’s previous decisions followed market crises. One of these, and the biggest, came to light in early February when Terraform Labs was accused of fraud. On this date, 16 cryptos were declared as securities, including Terra Luna Classic [LUNC], Terra Classic USD [USTC] and Mirror Protocol [MIR]. The SEC currently qualifies 48 altcoins as securities:
XRP (XRP), Telegram’s Gram (TON), LBRY Credits (LBC), OmiseGo (OMG), DASH (DASH), Algorand (ALGO), Naga (NGC), Monolith (TKN), IHT Real Estate (IHT), Power Ledger (POWR), Chromatica (KROM), DFX Finance (DFX), Amp (AMP), Rally (RLY), Rari Governance Token (RGT), DerivaDAO (DDX), XYO Network (XYO), Liechtenstein Cryptoasset Exchange (LCX) , Kin (KIN) Salt Lending (SALT), Beaxy Token (BXY), DragonChain (DRGN), Tron (TRX), BitTorrent (BTT), Terra USD (UST), Luna (LUNA), Mirror Protocol (MIR), Mango (MNGO), Ducat (DUCAT), Locke (LOCKE), EthereumMax (EMAX), Hydro (HYDRO), BitConnect (BCC), Meta 1 Coin (META1), Filecoin (FIL), BNB (BNB), Binance USD (BUSD) ), Solana (SOL), Cardano (ADA), Polygon (MATIC), Cosmos (ATOM), The Sandbox (SAND), Decentraland (MANA), Axie Infinity (AXS), COTI (COTI), Paragon (PRG), and AirToken (AIR).
In addition, the SEC adds that 13 separate Mirror Protocol mAssets are securities:
Mirrored Apple Inc. (mAAPL), Mirrored Amazon.com, Inc. (mAMZN), Mirrored Alibaba Group Holding Limited (mBABA), Mirrored Alphabet Inc. (mGOOGL), Mirrored Microsoft Corporation (mMSFT), Mirrored Netflix, Inc. (mNFLX), Mirrored Tesla, Inc. (mTSLA), Mirrored Twitter Inc. (mTWTR), Mirrored iShares Gold Trust (mIAU), Mirrored Invesco QQQ Trust (mQQQ), Mirrored iShares Silver Trust (mSLV), Mirrored United States Oil Fund, LP (mUSO), Mirrored ProShares VIX Short-Term Futures ETF (mVIXY) .
Dilemma on other major central exchanges
As you follow on Kriptokoin.com, Binance CEO CZ described the SEC’s claims as “an attack on the entire industry”. Following this legal action, industry leaders are warning of the negative impact on major US exchanges like Coinbase and Kraken.
Arca’s Chief Investment Officer, Jeff Dorman, expressed concern about the repercussions of the SEC’s lawsuit. Dorman highlighted the detrimental impact on Coinbase, Kraken and other US exchanges, which now find themselves caught between regulatory scrutiny and continuing their business operations. These exchanges now face the difficult task of delisting altcoins that fall under the SEC’s regulatory scope. Exchanges will also have to be more careful than before when listing new altcoins.
Coinbase and SEC have to reevaluate their listings
Coinbase, one of the leading US cryptocurrency exchanges, was particularly affected by the lawsuit filed by the SEC. The exchange has earned a reputation for its compliance-oriented approach. He has also been at the forefront of dealing with regulators. However, with the SEC’s network now covering a significant portion of the crypto market, Coinbase faces the daunting task of re-evaluating its token listing criteria to ensure compliance and minimize legal risk.
Kraken, another major US exchange, is also grappling with the consequences of the Binance lawsuit. The exchange has made an effort to establish itself as a compatible platform. He even obtained a US banking license. However, the actions of the SEC are creating a cloud of uncertainty over Kraken’s operations. Because now the regulator has to decide whether to continue supporting tokens that might conflict with their decision.
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