At least in the case of Bernie Madoff, the SEC can say "no, it is illegal to run a ponzi scheme and in this case it should say what law the exchange broke to make it valid
But the only time that a judge has ruled on whether or not a crypto token is a security is in the XRP case, and it ruled that it was not (at least when it was sold on exchanges). This is not comparable to a ponzi scheme where the legality is not in question at all.
And let's not ignore the fact that these exchanges have done this right out in the open for around 10 years now. Coinbase even had their IPO approved by the SEC. So it's very clear that the SEC treated this as legal for a decade before suddenly changing their position. This seems incredibly dishonest to me.
They are only securities in the eyes of SEC. There is no legally binding court decision that cryptocurrencies would be securities, and, for example, are not commodities.
pseg134|2 years ago
fallingknife|2 years ago
And let's not ignore the fact that these exchanges have done this right out in the open for around 10 years now. Coinbase even had their IPO approved by the SEC. So it's very clear that the SEC treated this as legal for a decade before suddenly changing their position. This seems incredibly dishonest to me.
miohtama|2 years ago