coinedition.com
Crypto journalist Eleanor Terret lambasted the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) over its recent classification of Grayscale’s Filecoin as a security. The journalist asserted that the same regulatory agency was silent when it investigated the same product five years ago.
On May 17, the leading cryptocurrency asset management Grayscale announced that the SEC has ordered the firm to withdraw its application for a Filecoin Trust, on account of the regulator’s view that “the Trust’s underlying asset, FIL, meets the definition of a security under federal securities law”.
Subsequent to the announcement, Terret shared a Twitter post, commenting on the unreasonable move of the commission:
🚨NEW: @Grayscale says the @SECGov has asked it to withdraw an application to launch a $FIL Trust product on the grounds that it might meet the definition of an investment company and that $FIL meets the definition of a security.
— Eleanor Terrett (@EleanorTerrett) May 17, 2023
Interesting that the SEC investigated @Filecoin…
According to the post shared by the asset management platform, the SEC staff sent a letter to Grayscale asking the firm to pull out its application to make its Filecoin Trust product a reporting company, claiming that Filecoin is a security.
The company stated that it strongly opposes the claims of the regulator and added that the company requires an explanation from the SEC. Grayscale quoted:
Grayscale does not believe that FIL is a security under the federal securities laws and intends to respond promptly to the SEC staff with an explanation of the legal basis for Grayscale’s position.
On May 9, Grayscale officially proclaimed the launch of Grayscale Funds Trust, a “Delaware statutory trust structure” to manage its publically traded financial products. Though the company has initiated several strategies to enhance its operations, the regulator’s intervention stands as a barricade.