Crypto exchange Bittrex, carrying on its bankruptcy proceedings in the U.S., has filed a motion asking the court to dismiss charges brought by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). In its motion, the exchange argued that the agency does not have the authority to regulate the crypto market unless Congress explicitly grants this authority to the regulator. In April, the SEC filed a lawsuit against Bittrex over the violation of U.S. laws by running as an exchange, broker-dealer, and clearinghouse at the same time without registration and listing unregistered securities. - Shortly after the complaint, Bittrex filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in the U.S. without halting its global operations.
- In its latest motion, the exchange said crypto assets being traded on secondary markets should not be classified as securities but as commodities.
- The platform also stated that the SEC did not properly communicate with the crypto exchanges to inform them that their actions were illegal.
- The firm noted that even if all the allegations are true, the agency has no legal authority to regulate cryptocurrencies as securities.
Coinbase, the largest U.S. crypto exchange, also recently submitted a motion asking the court to dismiss the SEC's charges against it. - Coinbase also said regulating the crypto market is beyond the agency's legal authority, citing the SEC Chair Gary Gensler's testimony from 2021.
- Gensler said only Congress had the power to regulate the crypto industry.
- Over the last several months, many other crypto exchanges, including Binance, Coinbase, Kraken, and Gemini, came under increased scrutiny by the SEC.
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