Coinbase Chief Legal Officer Paul Grewal spoke up against the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission’s proposed revisions to national custody requirements that necessitate registered concern advisers (RIAs) to clasp lawsuit assets astatine qualified custodians.
The speech officially added its comments regarding the projected regularisation connected May 8, the deadline for submission.
Grewal’s tweets travel aft Marisa Tashman Coppel, Policy Counsel for the Blockchain Association, warned connected May 8 that the SEC’s regularisation alteration could “drastically curtail” crypto investment.
Grewal said successful a Twitter thread that the speech agrees with the “spirit of the proposal.”
He added:
“We’re assured Coinbase Custody Trust Company volition stay a QC adjacent if the connection is adopted arsenic is.”
Comments connected SEC proposal
In its comments, among different issues, Coinbase disagreed with the SEC’s proposition to displacement the types of banks allowed to service arsenic qualified custodians to see lone those “subject to Federal regularisation and supervision” and believes authorities spot companies and different state-regulated fiscal institutions should proceed to beryllium qualified custodians.
“The Proposal contains nary argumentation mentation oregon economical investigation that would enactment changing the scope of banks eligible to service arsenic qualified custodians,” Coinbase noted successful its comments, adding that specified a regularisation requires much reasoning, reviewing alternatives, and cost-benefit investigation than the connection provides.
Coinbase besides believes the connection request by the SEC for RIAs to support possession oregon power of lawsuit assets astatine each times is “to warrant banning RIA lawsuit trades connected crypto exchanges that are not qualified custodians and necessitate pre-funding to execute transactions.”
The institution believes the connection should let lawsuit assets to temporarily permission the qualified custodian truthful advisers tin execute and settee trades wrong 1 time aft the transaction. It contends that this regularisation connected crypto plus trading does not see the reasoning for crypto exchanges pre-funding transactions oregon the real-time colony payment it provides.
Grewal said successful his Twitter thread that:
“[T]his connection unnecessarily singles retired crypto and makes inappropriate assumptions astir custodial practices based connected securities markets.”
According to Coinbase, the SEC indispensable instrumentality a “unified possession oregon power standard” that enables consumers to clasp crypto assets astatine a wider scope of qualified custodians. The institution noted that the connection successful its existent signifier would beryllium detrimental to broker-dealers, holding them to a higher custodial modular for crypto assets than banks and overseas fiscal institutions, and believes broker-dealers should custody crypto assets nether the aforesaid requirements arsenic different plus classes.
Coinbase besides suggested different amendments to the proposal, specified arsenic tailoring indemnification and security requirements by plus people and allowing blase investors to negociate custodial arrangements.
Grewal ended the thread by saying:
“We admit the accidental to measurement successful and we look guardant to engaging with the SEC to get this close – nationalist rulemaking is simply a captious measurement successful bringing further clarity to the market.”
Coinbase vs. SEC
Coinbase has been embroiled successful a ineligible conflict with the SEC ever since it received a Wells Notice successful March. Since then, the speech has repeatedly spoken retired against the SEC’s regulations.
The speech precocious procured a court order that compels the SEC to respond to the exchange’s mandamus petition that asked the SEC to usage its rulemaking process to make guidance for companies successful the crypto industry.
The station Coinbase’s Paul Grewal says SEC custody regularisation connection ‘unnecessarily singles retired crypto’ appeared archetypal connected CryptoSlate.