4 ms·

I asked the DEA how to get a path to register to be able to sell fentanyl to anyone, they didn't have any answer so I just opened up shop.

latchkey 4y ago
Terrible analogy. fentanyl requires a prescription to get access to it. There are well defined processes for this. Until the SEC defines what sort of requirements there are to purchase crypto (like the FDA has [0]), coinbase isn't doing anything illegal by selling it. [0] https://www.accessdata.fda.gov/drugsatfda_docs/label/2019/019813s079lbl.pdf https://www.accessdata.fda.gov/drugsatfda_docs/label/2019/01...
- vkou 4y ago
  There are well-defined processes for selling unregistered securities. Either get them registered, or don't sell them.
  - latchkey 4y ago
    No, there isn't. https://www.coindesk.com/policy/2023/04/19/sec-chair-gensler-declines-to-say-if-ether-is-a-security-in-contentious-congressional-hearing/ https://www.coindesk.com/policy/2023/04/19/sec-chair-gensler...
    - vkou 4y ago
      That has nothing to do with what I said, or with why Coinbase is in hot water right now. Eth might not be a security, and Coinbase would still be trading other unregistered securities. It's telling that all their press releases don't actually address the problem. (Also, it's not the exchange's responsibility to register securities, it's the issuer's.)
      - latchkey 4y ago
        Part of the Wells Notice is around the Coinbase Earn stacking service, which is staking ETH. That's what the SEC is going after and which Gensler can't even answer is a security or not.
        vkou 4y ago
        ETH might not be a security, but staking ETH is almost definitely one. Dollars and orange trees aren't securities, but as soon as I start 'staking' dollars and orange trees into financial instruments which earn rewards, it becomes a security. Asking 'Is Eth a security?' is asking the wrong question. Asking 'Is <some particular use of Eth> a security?' is the right question. Gensler was in the process of giving such an answer, and was interrupted ~40 times in that four-minute clip. It's really quite embarrassing.
        latchkey 4y ago
        > ETH might not be a security, but staking ETH is almost definitely one. Ok, so if ETH isn't a security and staking ETH is a security, then the SEC should be able to provide a registration service for that, right? That's the problem, they can't seem to manage to do that. > Dollars and orange trees aren't securities, but as soon as I start 'staking' dollars and orange trees into financial instruments which earn rewards, it becomes a security. Sorry, you lost me on that one. > Gensler was in the process of giving such an answer, and was interrupted ~40 times in that four-minute clip. He should have had a concise answer and acted a bit less flustered then. It was a yes/no question to a professional.
fallingknife 4y ago
Bad analogy because Coinbase isn't you. Coinbase is a licensed securities dealer. So that would be more like a licensed drug distributor asking the DEA how to get a license to distribute fentanyl to hospitals. And the DEA would happily answer them.

latchkey 4y ago

Terrible analogy. fentanyl requires a prescription to get access to it. There are well defined processes for this. Until the SEC defines what sort of requirements there are to purchase crypto (like the FDA has [0]), coinbase isn't doing anything illegal by selling it. [0] https://www.accessdata.fda.gov/drugsatfda_docs/label/2019/019813s079lbl.pdf https://www.accessdata.fda.gov/drugsatfda_docs/label/2019/01...

vkou 4y ago
There are well-defined processes for selling unregistered securities. Either get them registered, or don't sell them.
- latchkey 4y ago
  No, there isn't. https://www.coindesk.com/policy/2023/04/19/sec-chair-gensler-declines-to-say-if-ether-is-a-security-in-contentious-congressional-hearing/ https://www.coindesk.com/policy/2023/04/19/sec-chair-gensler...
  - vkou 4y ago
    That has nothing to do with what I said, or with why Coinbase is in hot water right now. Eth might not be a security, and Coinbase would still be trading other unregistered securities. It's telling that all their press releases don't actually address the problem. (Also, it's not the exchange's responsibility to register securities, it's the issuer's.)
    - latchkey 4y ago
      Part of the Wells Notice is around the Coinbase Earn stacking service, which is staking ETH. That's what the SEC is going after and which Gensler can't even answer is a security or not.
      - vkou 4y ago
        ETH might not be a security, but staking ETH is almost definitely one. Dollars and orange trees aren't securities, but as soon as I start 'staking' dollars and orange trees into financial instruments which earn rewards, it becomes a security. Asking 'Is Eth a security?' is asking the wrong question. Asking 'Is <some particular use of Eth> a security?' is the right question. Gensler was in the process of giving such an answer, and was interrupted ~40 times in that four-minute clip. It's really quite embarrassing.
        latchkey 4y ago
        > ETH might not be a security, but staking ETH is almost definitely one. Ok, so if ETH isn't a security and staking ETH is a security, then the SEC should be able to provide a registration service for that, right? That's the problem, they can't seem to manage to do that. > Dollars and orange trees aren't securities, but as soon as I start 'staking' dollars and orange trees into financial instruments which earn rewards, it becomes a security. Sorry, you lost me on that one. > Gensler was in the process of giving such an answer, and was interrupted ~40 times in that four-minute clip. He should have had a concise answer and acted a bit less flustered then. It was a yes/no question to a professional.

fallingknife 4y ago

Bad analogy because Coinbase isn't you. Coinbase is a licensed securities dealer. So that would be more like a licensed drug distributor asking the DEA how to get a license to distribute fentanyl to hospitals. And the DEA would happily answer them.