KEY POINTS

  • In February, the SEC deemed 16 crypto assets as securities
  • In April, the financial watchdog alleged that Ripple (XRP), LBRY Credits (LBC), Algorand (ALGO) are securities
  • Overall, the SEC has now labeled 48 crypto assets and 13 Mirrored Assets as securities

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), with its latest lawsuit filed against Binance, the world's largest crypto exchange platform by trading volume, has declared more than 60 crypto assets as securities.

The financial regulator's move underlined that it is serious in its crackdown within the nascent industry, but seemingly sent a different message to the crypto community, which interpreted the development as a declaration of war.

In a lawsuit that slapped Binance, Binance.US and its CEO Changpeng Zhao with 13 charges, the SEC alleged that 10 popular crypto assets like Cardano (ADA), Solana (SOL), Polygon (MATIC), Binance Coin (BNB), Binance USD (BUSD), Cosmos (ATOM), The Sandbox (SAND), Decentraland (MANA), Axie Infinity (AXS) and COTI (COTI) are unregistered securities.

In April, when it filed a lawsuit against the crypto exchange Bittrex, the financial watchdog alleged that Ripple (XRP), LBRY Credits (LBC), and Algorand (ALGO) are securities.

When the SEC sued Terraform Labs, the blockchain company behind the so-called algorithmic stablecoin TerraUSD (UST) and LUNA, in February, it declared 16 crypto assets as securities.

Among these were Terra Luna Classic (LUNC), Terra Classic USD (USTC), Mirror Protocol (MIR) and approximately 13 Mirrored Assets (mAssets) designed to mimic stocks of tech giants like Tesla and Apple.

Overall, the SEC has now labeled 48 crypto assets and 13 Mirrored Assets as securities.

A view of a representation of cryptocurrency Bitcoin plunging into water in this illustration taken, May 23, 2022.
A view of a representation of cryptocurrency Bitcoin plunging into water in this illustration taken, May 23, 2022. Reuters / DADO RUVIC

Cryptocurrency aggregator CoinMarketCap lists approximately 25,500 cryptocurrencies. But the SEC chairman Gary Gensler previously said that "everything other than Bitcoin" is security.

The financial regulator's action was not taken lightly by the crypto community, with its personalities immediately viewing the move as "an act of war."

Internet personality and Moon Nation Game CEO Ben Todar said on Twitter that the SEC's "attack on Binance not only undermines the freedom and innovation of cryptocurrencies but also raises concerns about its role as a tool wielded by traditional banks to suppress the growth of digital currencies."

Charles Hoskinson, who co-founded the Cardano blockchain, said, "Honestly, what is happening isn't anything new. It's always the same fight between freedom and authoritarianism just with different players, technology, and words."

Meanwhile, the Inpulsex partnership manager who uses the Twitter handle @LlisahMarieGal, said, "I think we've all had enough of the SEC's bs. This is a Crypto Civil war, a fight for our freedom.. the very reason #crypto exists.. and they don't realize that every attack is only making us stronger."

Shiba Ecosystem's official content marketing specialist who uses the Twitter handle @LucieSHIB remained optimistic despite the SEC's latest move and said that while "this is a war on cryptocurrencies, not just [on] Binance," she believes the crypto community can make it. She further said that "they may win the battle, but they won't win the war!"

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