Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong has revealed that the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) wanted the cryptocurrency exchange to list only Bitcoin (BTC). This happened before the regulator sued Coinbase in June. Armstrong says that the pressure from the SEC left Coinbase with no other choice but to fight it out in court.
SEC’s demands could have “ended” crypto in the US. When the SEC filed its lawsuit against Coinbase in early June, it included complaints about the offering of unregistered securities. The Commission named several altcoins listed on Coinbase as unregistered securities, with those singled out being Cardano (ADA), Solana (SOL) and Polygon (MATIC).
Armstrong said: “We really didn’t have a choice at that point. Delisting every asset other than bitcoin, which by the way is not what the law says, would have essentially meant the end of the crypto industry in the US. It kind of made it an easy choice … ‘let’s go to court and find out what the court says’.”
SEC Chair Gary Gensler has previously noted that almost every other cryptocurrency was a security. Nevertheless, Coinbase is determined to fight the allegations in court. The Financial Times has quoted the government agency as noting that no such requests have been made by the securities watchdog.
The regulator suffered a noticeable loss earlier this month when a judge ruled in favour of the XRP creator Ripple Labs. Following the ruling which declared XRP not a security, Coinbase announced the relisting of the altcoin.
