New Kraken CEO Will Not File With SEC

September 25, 2022 5:26 pm Comments

It seems that popular crypto exchange Kraken’s new CEO Dave Ripley does not have any plans to register the exchange with the SEC.

He states that this is because the assets that are traded on Kraken are not securities and therefore does not have any obligation to register with the SEC.

This is one of the few crypto exchanges within the US that seems to be resisting the SEC’s overreach where the regulatory body claims that most crypto tokens fall under its jurisdiction.

Dave Ripley will replace Kraken’s previous CEO Jesse Powell and will therefore be involved in defining Kraken’s future strategy within the crypto industry.

CryptoBriefing.com reports:

Since that announcement, Ripley has made comments about Kraken’s compliance plans. According to Reuters, Ripley said that Kraken does not have any reason to register with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

Ripley justified this by stating that Kraken does not deal in securities. He stated that there are “not any tokens out there that are securities that we’re interested in listing.”

He conceded that if a token is of interest to Kraken and that token “happens to simultaneously be a security,” Kraken might be “interested in that path.”

Ripley also said that Kraken has no plans to delist tokens identified as securities in a separate case concerning employees of its competitor, Coinbase. Coinbase similarly denied that the assets concerned are securities, stating that “no assets listed on our platform are securities.”

The SEC has historically not been definitive on whether cryptocurrencies are considered securities.

So far, history has shown that the SEC’s definition of a security continues to be unclear which has caused issues for crypto firms within the US.

Gary Gensler said during an event this past month that the “vast Majority” of crypto are securities, but still failed to provide the exact criteria for what would make a crypto asset NOT a security.

Such statements were made only at public events that SEC officials attended though, but were not announced in any official capacity.

Whether or not Kraken will face any future legal action from the SEC as a result of not registering their company is still be determined.

CryptoBriefing concludes:

Other cryptocurrency assets, which often rely on early investments or token sales, are more likely to be securities.

SEC chair Gary Gensler said during an event at the Practising Law Institute this month that the “vast majority” of cryptocurrencies are likely securities.

Both statements, though widely cited, were made at public events—not in any official capacity. As such, the SEC can launch investigations and make charges against individuals and crypto companies as it sees fit.

While the SEC has no apparent plans to investigate Kraken, Ripley’s statements could draw the regulator’s attention.

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