The US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) suffered another blow in its crusade against the crypto industry.
A judge ordered the Commission to pay $1.8 billion after its lawsuit against DEBT Box ended in failure. The SEC had filed a lawsuit against the company last year.
The lawsuit
The regulator had alleged that DEBT Box had raised $50 billion from investors in Bitcoin and Ethereum in a ‘fraudulent scheme’.
Judge Robert Shelby of the Utah District Court ruled that the lawsuit was a dud and that the SEC would have to compensate for the legal costs incurred.
In March, the same judge had said that the regulator’s conduct had been a ‘gross abuse’ of power that the Congress had given to it.
According to DEBT Box, it was a ‘monumental victory’. Miguel Francis-Santiago, the chief marketing officer of the company, said that it was a victory for the whole Web3 industry and not just DEBT Box.
He added that it was time to put an end to America’s conversion into a digital desert. He said that the country had fallen behind the world and they would be left behind if they did not change things.
The hope
Policy counsel for Blockchain Association, Laura Sanders, said that they were hoping that the legal penalty would discourage the SEC.
She asserted that the regulator needs to stop using deceptive and unfair tactics against any company on the receiving end of enforcement action.
Amanda Tuminelli, the chief legal officer of DeFi Education Fund, said that Judge Shelby could have taken things forward by dismissing the lawsuit with prejudice.
Still, she added that even if the case was retried, the court would rule in favor of DEBT Box. She explained that the judge had imposed an important condition on the regulator in his order.
He has said that if the SEC decides to bring a case against the same defendants once more, they should do it in front of him.
Tuminelli said that Judge Shelby is unlikely to forget what has happened this time around.
The SEC
Under its Chairman Gary Gensler, the SEC has cracked down on the crypto industry relentlessly. Many companies have been seen over recent years for allegedly selling unregistered securities.
However, lawmakers and the industry have both criticized the regulatory agency for being too heavy-handed.
In a surprise vote in the previous week, both Democrats and Republicans had voted to demand a clear regulatory framework for the crypto industry.
This is something that the crypto sphere has been demanding for years from the SEC, but the latter has not obliged.
Minnesota Rep. Tom Emmer criticized the federal regulator because of the outcome of the DEBT Box case.
He sarcastically praised the SEC boss Gary Gensler of using the taxpayer dollars of Americans suitably. This is not the first time that the agency has been criticized for its actions related to the crypto industry.