US Chamber of Commerce Slams SEC, Backs Coinbase in Legal Fight (decrypt.co) 36
The U.S. Chamber of Commerce called out the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on Thursday, slamming the financial watchdog for its regulatory approach toward the digital asset industry. From a report: It filed an amicus brief in support of Coinbase, which took the SEC to court last month. The exchange wants a court to force the SEC to respond to its so-called "petition for rulemaking" filed last July. The petition asks the SEC to propose and adopt rules for digital assets and answer questions related to regulation. Now Coinbase has one of the largest business organizations in the world standing behind it.
The U.S. Chamber of Commerce represents the interests of more than 3 million businesses and organizations throughout the country, from small businesses to global corporations, according to its website. Amicus briefs are legal documents containing information or advice related to a specific court case and are provided by third parties. And the U.S. Chamber of Commerce accused the SEC of intentionally sewing uncertainty to keep the digital assets industry on ice. "The SEC has deliberately muddied the waters by claiming sweeping authority over digital assets while deploying a haphazard, enforcement-based approach," it wrote. "This regulatory chaos is by design, not happenstance." Further reading: Coinbase CEO Says SEC is On 'Lone Crusade'
The U.S. Chamber of Commerce represents the interests of more than 3 million businesses and organizations throughout the country, from small businesses to global corporations, according to its website. Amicus briefs are legal documents containing information or advice related to a specific court case and are provided by third parties. And the U.S. Chamber of Commerce accused the SEC of intentionally sewing uncertainty to keep the digital assets industry on ice. "The SEC has deliberately muddied the waters by claiming sweeping authority over digital assets while deploying a haphazard, enforcement-based approach," it wrote. "This regulatory chaos is by design, not happenstance." Further reading: Coinbase CEO Says SEC is On 'Lone Crusade'
US Chamber of Commerce != Government (Score:5, Insightful)
I know most people know all this, but I just want to highlight the dishonest nature of their entire organization, going all the way back to their name. When you think "lobbyists suck" you're thinking about the US Chamber of Commerce.
Re:US Chamber of Commerce != Government (Score:5, Insightful)
They produce nothing except campaign contributions to pols and "research" papers to that pols can pick and choose company favorites to target in legislation.
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Re:US Chamber of Commerce != Government (Score:5, Informative)
"What we don't tend to know as Americans is that the biggest lobby on behalf of daylight saving since 1915 in this country — and to this very day — is the Chamber of Commerce," Downing, who died earlier this year, said in a 2015 video about daylight saving. [1]
[1] https://www.npr.org/2022/11/04... [npr.org]
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"What we don't tend to know as Americans is that the biggest lobby on behalf of daylight saving since 1915 in this country — and to this very day — is the Chamber of Commerce," Downing, who died earlier this year, said in a 2015 video about daylight saving. [1]
[1] https://www.npr.org/2022/11/04... [npr.org]
As someone who is most definitely not a morning person I am okay with this, in fact I want them to go harder and make it permanent. No more of this Spring Forward / Fall Back nonsense, let's just Spring Forward and leave it there! Hell, if it were up to me I'd Spring Forward / Fall Forward and then just leave it there and never ever touch it again.
I don't give a damn about daylight in the morning, I'm going to work, I do give a damn about daylight in the evening when I'm not working though.
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Noon is when the sun is at apogee or the closest hour.
Set your schedule how it suits you best. Society doesn't resally care about your preference because you can do what you want
The clocks should be scientifically accurate.
Re:US Chamber of Commerce != Government (Score:5, Informative)
they picked that name to make them sound like they're part of the US Government. They're not. It's a business lobby group, and kind of a skeevy one at that.
The chamber didn't even pick their name. President William Howard Taft did, as he wanted an organization that represented all business in the United States. Thus, the name "US Chamber of Commerce" [wikipedia.org]:
The group was founded in April 1912 out of local chambers of commerce at the urging of President William Howard Taft and his Secretary of Commerce and Labor Charles Nagel. It was Taft's belief that the "government needed to deal with a group that could speak with authority for the interests of business". ... ...
The Chamber was created by President Taft as a counterbalance to the labor movement of the time.
In 1913, President Taft spoke at its first banquet at the Willard Hotel, where he called for the organization to lobby for comprehensive currency legislation and to support the Commission on Economy and Efficiency.
Ya'll know Taft was a corporate whore, right? (Score:1)
And yes, people used to trust the government (as long as they weren't black anyway). The gov't used to do a lot of good before Reagan got his mitts on it.
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Supporting Coinbase moves them from "kind of skeevy" to "when you hear any of their positions, assume the opposite is true until you have really really good evidence otherwise, evidence from media of multiple political positions".
digital asset ? (Score:5, Insightful)
You mean assets worth nothing and harm the environment? Screw you chamber.
Re:digital asset ? (Score:4, Insightful)
Re: digital asset ? (Score:2)
This has the same energy as the people that say they don't understand how people don't act psychopathically because they are atheists. I don't need a god to tell me not to be an asshole. And no, I'm not jealous I wasn't the one to come up with this scam.
Right-Wing Scum Backs Scammers (Score:5, Insightful)
More accurate headline: Right-Wing Scum Backs Scammers
The asshats at CoC are right-wing lobbyists.
Re:Right-Wing Scum Backs Scammers (Score:4, Interesting)
Not so. They are just lobbyists. They lobby purely on behalf of their own financial interest with no regard for anything else including politics.
They get slammed on both the left wing and right wing message boards I read. The right hates them as much as the left does. Maybe more. They're pretty vitriolic about it.
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Many conservative talkers dislike the US Chamber of Commerce.
Fraud and more fraud (Score:5, Insightful)
Until someone can prove that the crypto ecosystem isn't almost entirely a method and apparatus to perpetuate fraud and other criminal activity, I have zero problem with the industry having to jump over a VERY high bar.
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".....having to jump over a VERY high bar."
I prefer "having to jump off a VERY high cliff."
But I don't participate in that market, so my thoughts revolve around the wasted energy, (largely prior) effects on GPU prices, and the eventual mountains of electronics that are not suitable for landfills without prior treatment.
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> a VERY high bar
That's not the question.
The questiom
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> a VERY high bar
That's not the question.
The question is should they be able to know what the bar is before they attempt to jump?
The SEC says "jump and we'll tell you if you cleared the bar or not".
Ex-post-facto law is illegal in the US. /Chevron/ is being revisited in the fishieries case.
And, yeah, USCC can choke on a bag of dicks, but they're generally right on this one.
If agencies can do it to crypto they can do it to anybody.
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Is it time to post this link again?
https://blog.chainalysis.com/r... [chainalysis.com]
Oh wait here's a new one!
https://blog.chainalysis.com/r... [chainalysis.com]
Here's the juicy bit you'll want to see:
"Overall, the share of all cryptocurrency activity associated with illicit activity has risen for the first time since 2019, from 0.12% in 2021 to 0.24% in 2022. [2] "
But hey don't let facts get in the way of your narrative.
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"Ultimately though, we donâ(TM)t include their transaction volumes in our measures of illicit activity because our estimates are based solely on on-chain intelligence â" we donâ(TM)t account for instances where, for example, off-chain bookkeeping may have been fraudulent. Plus, the bankruptcy and criminal cases associated with these collapses are still ongoing, so for the time being, weâ(TM)ll leave questions of criminality to the legal system. "
Translation: Look at how little fraud ther
Who could have predicted? (Score:3, Informative)
Article on bullshit crypto website, acting as if the U.S. Chamber of Commerce isn't a sleazy lobby group of the worst sort. Nah, we see what you are doing.
You know what you won't see in the comments? (Score:3)
Anyone who can offer a coherent explanation for why the SEC has called Bitcoin and Ethereum commodities, but everything else is a security. Also, no explanation for why the SEC hasn't been able to specifically name which unlicensed securities Coinbase was selling.
I mean imagine accusing a pharmacy of "selling drugs" and then not naming one single prescription drug and quantities of it that were illegally sold, just going to court and pointing-and-shrieking "dey wuz selling drugz, yonnah!"
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From Findlaw:
The major difference between buying and selling securities and commodities lies in what is being sold. Purchasing stock buys a share in a corporation's ownership and control. Purchasing commodities, on the other hand, is to buy goods themselves before they actually exist.
So I will interpret what is being bought and sold as the thing-in-itself (das Ding an sich, to use Kant's term) It is hard to consider e-coins as securities. And no, not everything else is a security.
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Anyone who can offer a coherent explanation for why the SEC has called Bitcoin and Ethereum commodities, but everything else is a security
You'll need to apply the Howley Test to understand... Bitcoin and Ethereum are typically sold as digital "Currencies" available to be used in trade; they are not Sold as a part of an enterprise for the purpose generating Income in the form of a Share of revenue or expected Appreciation in value from an enterprise.
The mere possibility someone can speculate on the rise
Then explain Ripple/XRP (Score:2)
SEC vs Ripple is the main case the SEC has going. What you said about Bicoin and Ethereum applies 100% to XRP. That hasn't stopped the SEC from pursing Ripple for an "illegal securities offering" despite them being unable to explain why Ethereum is a commodity and XRP is a security. When Ripple launched, DeFi was in its infancy. XRP was marketed as a crypto currency for payment systems, banking, etc. The best of breed blockchain.
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"Commodities are physical products that can be bought, traded, or exchanged, such as grain, beef, or gold12. They are typically considered stores of value because they hold their value over time1. Securities, on the other hand, produce return from a common enterprise or company1. They are financial instruments that are not physical products2. Commodities are subject to higher delivery costs in acquiring physical possession, which led to the birth of futures as a way of trading commodities3. Comm
Typo: should say "sowing" not "sewing" (Score:1)
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They have a $120 million budget for "Printing and Reproduction." At that price they may very well be both sewing and sowing simultaneously. :)
Credibility crisis (Score:2)