<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The U.S. Chamber of Commerce, one of the most influential business advocacy groups in the country, is taking up the banner of digital asset critics of U.S. regulation, and blasting the Securities and Exchange Commission's approach to ether, Coinbase, Kraken and the broader digital asset industry. </span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The association lent its support to Coinbase’s lawsuit against the SEC for a response to a request for crypto-specific rulemaking. </span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Coinbase filed a rare </span><a href="https://www.theblock.co/post/228047/coinbase-sues-the-sec-for-answer-on-rule-specific-to-digital-assets"><span style="font-weight: 400;">writ of mandamus lawsuit</span></a> <span style="font-weight: 400;">against the SEC last month following up on a request made last summer for new rulemaking specific to digital assets. </span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">In its </span><a href="https://www.uschamber.com/assets/documents/U.S.-Chamber-Amicus-Brief-In-re-Coinbase-Third-Circuit.pdf"><span style="font-weight: 400;">own filing to the court</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;"> in support of that suit, the Chamber argues that the lack of direct response from the SEC to Coinbase’s request “</span><span style="font-weight: 400;">is causing substantial economic harm to both Coinbase and the broader business community.” </span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The Chamber also criticizes the commission’s </span><a href="https://www.theblock.co/post/210408/secs-targeting-of-kraken-staking-program-sends-shockwaves-through-industry"><span style="font-weight: 400;">enforcement action against Kraken’s staking-as-a-service business</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">. The company settled and ended that business line in the U.S., but the Chamber criticized the action as emblematic of an aggressive SEC enforcement stance that could force more digital asset companies to end offerings in the U.S. </span></p> <h2>Ether-eal ambiguity</h2> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The business group also blasts the uncertainty around ether, the second-largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization, and the major area around digital assets where SEC Chair Gary Gensler has taken a different tack from his predecessor, Jay Clayton. Under Clayton the SEC took a stance that ether may be sufficiently decentralized as to no longer be a financial security, whereas Gensler has strongly indicated otherwise while declining to explicitly express his opinion one way or the other in a recent congressional appearance. </span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“Ether has been around for almost a decade,</span> <span style="font-weight: 400;">has a market capitalization exceeding $220 billion,</span> <span style="font-weight: 400;">and is a fundamental building block in the industry,” the Chamber’s brief reads.</span> <span style="font-weight: 400;">“Yet despite the ubiquity of ether, regulators </span><i><span style="font-weight: 400;">still </span></i><span style="font-weight: 400;">cannot agree on what it is.” </span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The brief notes the shift in tone around ether from the SEC, the agency’s disagreement with the CFTC over the digital asset, and Gensler’s recent ambiguity</span><a href="https://www.theblock.co/post/226877/gensler-sec-congress-hearing-crypto"><span style="font-weight: 400;"> before Congress</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;"> and to reporters afterwards over </span><a href="https://www.theblock.co/post/226974/gary-gensler-ether-security-crypto-clarity-congress-sec"><span style="font-weight: 400;">whether ether is a security or not</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">. </span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The amicus brief filed earlier this week also piggybacks on one of the arguments the crypto trading platform makes in its own suit, that the SEC has already made up its mind on whether or not to issue a rule but declined to formally respond to the request, due to </span><a href="https://www.theblock.co/post/226974/gary-gensler-ether-security-crypto-clarity-congress-sec"><span style="font-weight: 400;">public statements</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;"> by Gensler that current financial markets laws are enough to regulate digital assets. </span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Coinbase could challenge the agency’s decision in court, though that would likely be a lengthy process. But the company chose to </span><a href="https://www.theblock.co/post/228283/coinbase-vs-the-sec-a-gamble-to-take-on-a-regulator-undefeated-on-crypto"><span style="font-weight: 400;">gamble with the preemptive lawsuit against the SEC now</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">, and fight on its own terms, rather than wait on whether </span><a href="https://www.coinbase.com/blog/we-asked-the-sec-for-reasonable-crypto-rules-for-americans-we-got-legal"><span style="font-weight: 400;">an investigation into several of its business lines</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;"> would result in an enforcement action.</span></p><br /><span class="copyright"><p>© 2023 The Block Crypto, Inc. All Rights Reserved. This article is provided for informational purposes only. It is not offered or intended to be used as legal, tax, investment, financial, or other advice.</p> </span>