Crypto may see second wind in the US as courts ‘rein in the SEC’ — Lawyer
There are hopes that the United States could see a new crypto resurgence after several rulings this year have seen court judges “rein in the SEC,” according to a digital asset lawyer from K&L Gates.
On Aug. 31, Jeremy McLaughlin, a partner at the global law firm, noted that multiple U.S. court cases have stomped on arguments from Securities and Exchange Commission chair Gary Gensler — who has said that almost all digital assets are securities.
McLaughlin was speaking on a panel at Intersekt23 in Melbourne alongside payment services firm Novatti chief Effie Dimitropoulos and Invest Hong Kong fintech head King Leung.
He said early crypto regulation happened at the state level and was “pretty clear what you needed to do” but after the SEC and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission got involved “a lot of the market started to close up.”
“People delisted tokens, some companies pulled out of the U.S. because they saw how aggressive the SEC was being, and continues to be,” McLaughlin said.
“Now that the courts are starting to rein in the SEC a bit, I think there’s some hope that the industry is kind of igniting again in the U.S.”
In recent months the SEC has been handed a loss in a suit it brought against a crypto firm and also lost a suit a crypto firm brought against it.
On Aug. 29 a U.S. District Court judge ruled against the SEC over Grayscale Investments being denied its application to convert its flagship Bitcoin (BTC) fund into an exchange-traded fund.
In July, the SEC also took a partial loss in its case against Ripple Labs over XRP (XRP) sales when a judge ruled it wasn’t a security when sold to retail traders.
“To be a lawyer in the space, it’s quite difficult to advise clients,” McLaughlin remarked. He added he it was also frustrating that he couldn’t give clients clear answers.
He does see hope, however, that crypto regulations are emerging from the “pit of chaos.”
“Finally, there are cases that are being filed and the decisions have been going strongly in the favor of the digital asset industry,” McLaughlin added.
Aussies ‘lagging’ while others gain
In another part of the discussion, the panelists were asked about their thoughts on the state of Australia’s crypto legislation, compared to others. Novatti’s Dimitropoulos had one word: “Lagging.”
Dimitropoulos pointed to new regulatory frameworks in Hong Kong and the European Union as proof Australia’s crypto regulations were falling behind.
“It’s very clear to say that Australia is lagging. What that means […] Is how that affects on-the-ground businesses that are operating with digital assets.”
She highlighted the overhead needed for local crypto firms to get legal advice “that could be defunct in three minutes’ time.”
Related: Coinbase stock surges after favorable federal ruling for Grayscale
“We hear the Treasurer is going to come out with regulation, [the Australian Securities and Investments Commisson] is going to do something, Senator Bragg’s bill in play,” she said.
“There are so many pieces that are still in play with no clear resolution as to when it’s going to happen. So that supports my word: ‘Lagging.’”
Magazine: Crypto regulation — Does SEC Chair Gary Gensler have the final say?
At a press conference today in which Reform UK announced the Tory police and crime commissioner for Leicestershire was joining their ranks, as well as former prison governor Vanessa Frake, I asked Nigel Farage a simple question.
But his answer wasn’t what I expected.
I asked the Reform UK leader if the six-week campaign on law and order, with the tagline “Britain is Lawless”, was in fact project fear scaring people into voting for his party.
He utterly rejected that claim and responded to me saying: “No, they are afraid. They are afraid. I dare you, I dare you to walk through the West End of London after 9 o’clock of an evening wearing jewellery. You wouldn’t do it. You know that I’m right. You wouldn’t do it.”
I am not afraid to walk in the West End of London after 9pm wearing jewellery.
I have done it many times before and will continue to do so… but perhaps that is because I do not own a Rolex.
However, just because Farage is wrong on that point, doesn’t mean he isn’t tapping into other legitimate fears across the country.
Snatch theft does worry me, hence why I now have a phone case with a strap attached to it that I can put around my body.
And I worry about knife crime in my area and what the impact could be if I were to have children – on the weekend someone was stabbed to death a stone’s throw from my house.
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Farage ‘not mincing his words’
However, if we look at the statistics, it is invariably a more nuanced picture than Farage or social media might have us believe.
According to police reports, thefts from a person in London are almost five times the national average, and they’ve been going up since the pandemic.
And the Office for National Statistics (ONS) also notes that thefts outside of the home, eg phone snatching, has increased.
However, possession of weapons has fallen in London by 29% over the last three years.
And according to the ONS, crime in England and Wales is 30% lower than in 2015, and 76% lower than 1995.
And it is a similar picture for violent crime.
In short, am I right to be more worried that snatch theft and knife crime in London is increasing? Yes, and no.
But Nigel Farage is tapping into voters’ emotions – their feelings that the country is broken. It’s a picture the Conservative Party helped to create and the Labour Party happily painted to great effect during the general election campaign of 2024.
And the more politicians of all colours tell voters that “the system is broken”, the more voters might start to believe them.
That is what Nigel Farage is banking on.
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