The US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) shows its pressure on the cryptocurrency industry at every opportunity.
According to The Block, the SEC will vote to have the rules applied to stock exchanges also apply to decentralized finance (DeFi) projects.
While the SEC is preparing to oversee the DeFi industry with this move, the SEC is expected to announce that the rules that exist for commodity exchanges in the USA today also apply to DeFi.
SEC chairman Gary Gensler is expected to make the following statements at today's meeting:
“Many cryptocurrency trading platforms already fall within the current definition of an exchange and therefore have to comply with securities laws.
Calling yourself a DeFi platform is not an excuse to defy securities laws."
In his speech, Gensler reiterated his belief that the vast majority of cryptocurrencies are securities and that cryptocurrency trading platforms already meet all the requirements to be considered securities exchanges, saying:
“These crypto platforms match orders from multiple buyers and sellers of crypto securities using built-in and non-optional methods. In fact, that's the very definition of exchange.
And most cryptocurrency trading platforms today do just that. Whether they call themselves centralized or decentralized, that's what they do. At this point, they actually act as a stock exchange."
Speaking to reporters ahead of today's meeting, SEC officials said the agency did not intend to actually define DeFi but said they would consider how activities are taking place, including whether it has an intermediary and exactly what service this intermediary provides.
*Not investment advice.