In this photo illustration an OpenSea logo is displayed on a smartphone with stock market percentages in the background.
Omar Marques | Lightrocket | Getty Images
Crypto marketplace OpenSea has been added to the SEC’s list of targets, as the regulator extends its crackdown on the sector.
The company’s CEO said in a post on X on Wednesday that the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission issued a Wells notice against OpenSea.
A Wells notice is typically one of the final steps before the SEC issues formal charges. It generally lays out the framework of the regulatory argument and offers the potentially accused an opportunity to rebut the SEC’s claims.
The letter, according to the OpenSea chief, alleges that the nonfungible tokens, or NFTs, sold on its platform are securities. OpenSea is a popular platform that allows users to create, sell and buy NFTs.
OpenSea CEO Devin Finzer wrote in a post that the company was “shocked the SEC would make such a sweeping move against creators and artists” but that they are “ready to stand up and fight.”
Finzer calls it a “move into uncharted territory.”
“By targeting NFTs, the SEC would stifle innovation on an even broader scale: hundreds of thousands of online artists and creatives are at risk, and many do not have the resources to defend themselves,” he added, noting that the company has pledged $5 million to cover legal fees for NFT creators and developers who receive a Wells notice.
OpenSea directed CNBC to a blog post by Finzer, in addition to the social media post. In it, the OpenSea CEO adds that classifying NFTs as securities would “misinterpret the law” and that he is confident his company “operates legally” and that its “users aren’t trading securities.”
So far this year, the SEC has sent Wells notices, filed lawsuits, or reached settlements with a host of crypto firms focused on ethereum and decentralized finance, including ShapeShift, TradeStation and Uniswap. The agency is also reportedly investigating the Ethereum Foundation.
Centralized exchanges and trading platforms Coinbase, Kraken, Binance, and Robinhood have also all been engaged in legal battles with the regulator.
In May, investment platform Robinhood announced it received a Wells notice for the company’s crypto operations. The SEC has also sued Coinbase and Binance. Meanwhile, a California judge on Friday ruled that the commission’s case against Kraken would proceed to trial.
With multiple pending legal challenges from the regulator and enduring uncertainty about the future of crypto regulation in the U.S., some crypto businesses have said they are considering decamping from the country altogether.
SEC chair Gary Gensler has, in multiple interviews, repeatedly shared that he believes much of the industry already belongs under SEC jurisdiction, and its lawsuits are bringing the industry under compliance. Crypto firms argue that the recent legal battles haven’t given the regulatory clarity the industry has been seeking for years.
Republican presidential nominee and former president Donald Trump, who has branded himself as the pro-crypto candidate for president, has pledged to “fire” Chair Gensler from his post, should he win in November.
While the president does not have the power to fire appointed commissioners. Even if Trump were to appoint a new and more crypto-friendly SEC chairman, Gensler would remain a commissioner on the independent agency.
Fueled by incentives from the Illinois EPA and the state’s largest utility company, new EV registrations nearly quadrupled the 12% first-quarter increase in EV registrations nationally – and there are no signs the state is slowing down.
Despite the dramatic slowdown of Tesla’s US deliveries, sales of electric vehicles overall have perked up in recent months, with Illinois’ EV adoption rate well above the Q1 uptick nationally. Crain’s Chicago Business reports that the number of new EVs registered across the state totaled 9,821 January through March, compared with “just” 6,535 EVs registered in the state during the same period in 2024.
At the same time, the state’s largest utility, ComEd, launched a $90 million EV incentive program featuring a new Point of Purchase initiative to deliver instant discounts to qualifying business and public sector customers who make the switch to electric vehicles. That program has driven a surge in Class 3-6 medium duty commercial EVs, which are eligible fro $20-30,000 in utility rebates on top of federal tax credits and other incentives (Class 1-2 EVs are eligible for up to $7,500).
The electric construction equipment experts at XCMG just released a new, 25 ton electric crawler excavator ahead of bauma 2025 – and they have their eye on the global urban construction, mine operations, and logistical material handling markets.
Powered by a high-capacity 400 kWh lithium iron phosphate battery capable of delivering up to 8 hours of continuous operation, the XE215EV electric excavator promises uninterrupted operation at a lower cost of ownership and with even less downtime than its diesel counterparts.
XCMG showed off its latest electric equipment at the December 2024 bauma China, including an updated version of its of its 85-ton autonomous electric mining truck that features a fully cab-less design – meaning there isn’t even a place for an operator to sit, let alone operate. And that’s too bad, because what operator wouldn’t want to experience an electric truck putting down 1070 hp more than 16,000 lb-ft of torque!?
Easy in, easy out
XCMG battery swap crane; via Etrucks New Zealand.
The best part? All of the company’s heavy equipment assets – from excavators to terminal tractors to dump trucks and wheel loaders – all use the same 400 kWh BYD battery packs, Milwaukee tool style. That means an equipment fleet can utilize x number of vehicles with a fraction of the total battery capacity and material needs of other asset brands. That’s not just a smart use of limited materials, it’s a smarter use of energy.
As “extreme” weather events become more commonplace, the demand for reliable and portable energy continues to rise. In response to that growing demand for dependable off-grid power, Volvo has developed the new PU500 Battery Energy Storage System (BESS) designed to take electrical power when it’s needed most.
Designed to be deployable in a number of environments at a moment’s notice, the Volvo Energy PU500 BESS is equipped with approximately 500 kWh of usable battery capacity (up to 540 kWh total). More than enough juice, in other words, to power a remote construction site, disaster response effort, or even a music festival – anything that needs access to reliable electricity beyond a grid connection.
That’s great, but what sets the PU500 apart from other battery storage solutions is its integrated 240 kW DC fast charger.
“With an integrated CCS2 charger, the PU500 is designed to work with all brands of electric equipment, trucks, and passenger cars,” says Niklas Thulin, Head of BESS Product Offer at Volvo Energy. “This ensures that no matter what type of electric vehicle or machinery you rely on, the PU500 can provide the power you need, making it a truly flexible solution for any grid constrained site or location.”
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The integrated charger in the PU500 has the impressive ability to charge a heavy equipment asset (be that an electric semi truck or something like a wheel loader) in under two hours. Its on-board capacity allows to fully recharge up to 3 electric HD trucks or 20 electric cars per day, making it an incredibly versatile disaster response asset.