The US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has struck again in the cryptocurrency space. The agency, led by Gary Gensler, has recently been sending subpoenas to firms in the industry, warning them of impending lawsuits. Clearly, the regulator views all altcoins as unregistered securities. This time, the regulatory body's attention has fallen on Robinhood.
Robinhood Expects Lawsuit from SEC
Following Uniswap's decentralized exchange and Consensys, the creators of MetaMask, who received subpoenas from the SEC last month, Robinhood has also received a subpoena notice. The firm, known for its financial services and brokerage platform, allows users to trade stocks, ETFs, and certain cryptocurrencies.
On May 4, the company received a Wells notice from the US regulatory body, which is essentially a warning that the SEC is preparing to sue it. This is not surprising, given that Robinhood removed certain altcoins from its trading platform last year after they were listed as securities in lawsuits against exchanges Binance and Coinbase. At that time, Robinhood delisted tokens such as Solana (SOL), Cardano (ADA), and Polygon (MATIC).
It is therefore no surprise that the company's leadership is expressing disappointment with the SEC's decision. "After years of trying to cooperate with the SEC in good faith to ensure transparency in regulations, including our well-known attempt to 'enter and register,' we are disappointed that the agency has decided to issue a Wells notice in connection with our cryptocurrency activities in the US," said Dan Gallagher, General Counsel at Robinhood.
The company's CEO, Vlad Tenev, has also issued a statement, saying that if necessary, the firm will seek legal recourse to resolve this issue.
