Shapeshifting Justice: The SEC’s Weakest Case Yet

What is the point of a $275,000 fine? This week, crypto OG Erik Voorhees’ exchange ShapeShift settled charges with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission over alleged securities law infractions. The exchange, which decentralized its ownership structure by launching a DAO that oversees operations in 2021, agreed to pay a $275,000 fine to settle the charges, neither agreeing nor denying guilt.

Between 2014 and 2021, ShapeShift bought cryptocurrencies and sold them to clients, making money off of the spread. While the SEC said that this “vending machine”-like business model was effectively ShapeShift trading against its clients, the commission did not “allege any harm,” Peirce and Uyeda wrote in a dissenting opinion.

This is par for the course for the SEC under Chainman Gary Gensler, who has taken the view that nearly all cryptocurrencies are securities and therefore fall under its purview. Not only was the agency unspecific about which assets ShapeShift illegally listed, but it failed to explain its reasoning. “We respectfully request that the Commission show its work,” Peirce and Uyeda said.

Source: Law Daily Report (lawdailyreport.net)

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