Amid lawsuits against US-based exchanges like Coinbase and Binance.US, an executive from a local digital asset firm has pointed out the legal implications of the latest enforcement action for the industry.
According to Itai Avnery, COO of blockchain trading company INX, the era of trading cryptocurrencies as non-securities is coming to an end. Avneri believes that offering large amounts of coins to be traded on cryptocurrency exchanges is the main reason for the legal issues.
“Cryptocurrencies cannot continue to be traded as if they were not securities. Those days are gone,” Avneri said in an interview with Cointelegraph on June 19. According to the executive, INX launched this very idea in its prospectus five years ago. "It seems that we have this crystal ball in our hands," he added. he
Coinbase has 241 cryptocurrencies listed on its platform at the time of writing, which offers more than 530 trading pairs, according to data from CoinGecko. Rival exchange Binance.US still offers 154 cryptocurrencies for trading, following a deal with US regulators to freeze assets.
Unlike Coinbase or Binance.US, INX has only listed five cryptocurrencies since its launch in 2017. The coins listed include Bitcoin (BTC), Ether (ETH), USD Coin (USDC), Avalanche (AVA), and Litecoin (LTC). . Avner said.
“That's right. A very limited supply of cryptocurrencies,” he said, adding that INX carefully chooses which cryptocurrencies to list for trading on its platform. He also stressed that INX should not be considered a pure cryptocurrency company, as the company is primarily digitized or tokenized with a focus on security.
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Avneri added that Bitcoin "is not necessarily a security", although Ether does not have a clear definition such as:
"There is still no definition of Ethereum as a security. I know there has been a lot of discussion about it. I know there are a lot of opinions about it and we are monitoring the news closely and will continue to do so. Basically, Ethereum is, for now, listed on INX" .
INX will also find a way to list ETH on its platform if it is ever considered a stock, Avneri told Cointelegraph.
The COO also said that INX saw the opportunity that thousands of cryptocurrencies now have to find a way to be converted into shares and listed on platforms like INX. "They have to find a way to register and properly register with the SEC as securities," Avneri added.
"I think this path will become clearer. And I think, again, that's really what makes this industry unique and I would say a game changer or even a tipping point.
Avner's latest comments echo those of US Securities and Exchange Commission Chairman Gary Gensler. In September 2022, Gensler said that most cryptocurrencies are securities. Before becoming SEC chairman, Gensler said that more than 70% of the cryptocurrency market was non-equities, including Bitcoin, Ether, Litecoin, Bitcoin Cash, and others.
As previously reported, INX is positioned as one of the first companies to make an SEC-approved securities offering in the US.
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