Crypto Lobbying Groups Want a Waco Judge to Force the SEC to Define Token Airdrops
Washington D.C.-based crypto lobbying firms Blockchain Association and the Crypto Council for Innovation have filed a “friend-of-the-court” brief supporting an ongoing lawsuit against the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission looking for proactive clarity on token airdrops.
Crypto lobbying firms Blockchain Association and the Crypto Council for Innovation have filed a “friend-of-the-court” brief in support of an ongoing lawsuit against the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, seeking clarity on token airdrops.
The amicus brief, filed by the non-profit organizations, argues that a Waco District Court judge should compel the SEC to respond to claims by Beba, an American clothing brand that rewarded shoppers with tokens, and the DeFi Education Fund that airdrops do not violate securities laws.
In March, Beba and the DeFi Education Fund filed a lawsuit against the SEC, arguing that token airdrops cannot be classified as securities under the Howey Test. The Howey Test is a nearly century-old legal standard used by the SEC to determine whether a transaction represents an “investment contract.”
The plaintiffs in the lawsuit argue that airdrops fail the Howey Test because there is no reasonable expectation of profit from the tokens received.
“The first prong of the Supreme Court’s Howey test to determine whether a particular instrument is an ‘investment contract’ and therefore a security requires a court to find that there has been an ‘investment of money.’ In an airdrop, there is no investment of money because the recipient generally receives a token for free,” the Blockchain Association and Crypto Council lawyers wrote in their amicus brief.
“SCOTUS means what it says by this – money means money,” Blockchain Association Head of Legal Marisa Tashman Coppel said on Friday.
Beba's lawsuit is part of a wave of lawsuits filed by crypto industry participants seeking clarity from the SEC, which has been accused of “regulating by enforcement” rather than creating clear rules.
Since taking office, SEC Chairman Gary Gensler has stated that most cryptocurrencies are securities and that blockchain firms must register with the agency.
However, the SEC's aggressive approach to regulating crypto has sparked arguments that the agency is overstepping its authority by suing some of the largest crypto firms in and outside the U.S.
Beba and the DeFi Education Fund are arguing that the SEC is violating the Administrative Procedures Act, the federal law that governs how federal agencies create and enforce rules.
The Blockchain Association and Crypto Council for Innovation both contend that the SEC is violating its congressional mandate by regulating crypto without legislative clarity. They argue that the SEC’s actions are causing confusion and leading to a “brain drain” of talent from the U.S.
The association and council maintain that airdrops are “the tip of the iceberg” regarding the SEC’s stifling impact on the industry. They further assert that token giveaways are among the clearest instances where the agency is misapplying the Howey Test. According to them, not only is there no exchange of funds — and hence no investment — but there is also no "common enterprise" between the issuer and the recipients.
Shortly after Beba's lawsuit was filed, the SEC filed a motion to dismiss the case. The Blockchain Association and Crypto Council are now requesting that the court deny the SEC's motion and grant the plaintiffs' request for relief.
The above is the detailed content of Crypto Lobbying Groups Want a Waco Judge to Force the SEC to Define Token Airdrops. For more information, please follow other related articles on the PHP Chinese website!

The value of blockchain-based U.S. Treasuries is closing in on a new milestone, with total holdings approaching $6 billion.

Canary Capital is looking to launch an exchange-traded fund (ETF) tracking the price of Tron's native token, TRX, according to a filing.

The stablecoin market has surpassed a total capitalization of $233 billion. Within this sector, Solana's stablecoins have reached a new all-time high market capitalization of $12.73 billion

Canary Capital is looking to get the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's sign-off for an exchange-traded fund that would track the Tron token TRX and has a staking component.

In an April 18 X post, Soto-Wright said he wanted Congress to “keep state-regulated issuers in the game” when it comes to stablecoin regulation, referencing efforts in the House of Representatives and Senate to create a federal regulatory framework.

Saylor's ideas centre on the fixed 21 million coin supply of Bitcoin. He presents this shortage as a revolutionary economic idea rather than only a technical one.

The TRUMP memecoin has gained significant popularity on the Solana network primarily due to its direct affiliation with the U.S. President Donald Trump.

The TRUMP memecoin has gained significant popularity on the Solana network primarily due to its direct affiliation with the U.S. President Donald Trump.

Hot AI Tools

Undresser.AI Undress
AI-powered app for creating realistic nude photos

AI Clothes Remover
Online AI tool for removing clothes from photos.

Undress AI Tool
Undress images for free

Clothoff.io
AI clothes remover

AI Hentai Generator
Generate AI Hentai for free.

Hot Article

Hot Tools

SecLists
SecLists is the ultimate security tester's companion. It is a collection of various types of lists that are frequently used during security assessments, all in one place. SecLists helps make security testing more efficient and productive by conveniently providing all the lists a security tester might need. List types include usernames, passwords, URLs, fuzzing payloads, sensitive data patterns, web shells, and more. The tester can simply pull this repository onto a new test machine and he will have access to every type of list he needs.

WebStorm Mac version
Useful JavaScript development tools

ZendStudio 13.5.1 Mac
Powerful PHP integrated development environment

Safe Exam Browser
Safe Exam Browser is a secure browser environment for taking online exams securely. This software turns any computer into a secure workstation. It controls access to any utility and prevents students from using unauthorized resources.

MinGW - Minimalist GNU for Windows
This project is in the process of being migrated to osdn.net/projects/mingw, you can continue to follow us there. MinGW: A native Windows port of the GNU Compiler Collection (GCC), freely distributable import libraries and header files for building native Windows applications; includes extensions to the MSVC runtime to support C99 functionality. All MinGW software can run on 64-bit Windows platforms.