SEC Suit Says 70 Cryptos Are Securities As Values Tumble

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has tagged dozens of cryptocurrencies as securities as it cracks down on the digital assets industry, but provided very little explanation for how they came to that conclusion, Forbes Daily reported.

Photo Insert: Crypto is a $1.2 trillion industry.

If the cryptos fall in the legal definition of a security, it would require the issuers to register them with the SEC or meet the requirements for an exemption. The SEC is suing crypto exchanges Binance and Coinbase, alleging they operated as unregistered exchanges.

Berenberg, a Hamburg-based bank, says SEC the number of assets the agency deems securities is at least 65, including cryptos such as bnb, busd, cardano, solana and polygon.

They collectively account for more than $100 billion in market value.

SEC Chairman Gary Gensler has said the "vast majority" of crypto tokens meet the Howey test, a set of standards used to determine whether a transaction qualifies as an investment contract and is thus considered a security.

“The clampdown has been costly to the digital assets industry,” says Forbes reporter Nina Bambysheva.

The 9 cryptocurrencies named in the SEC’s cases against Binance and Coinbase have lost a combined $5 billion in value since early June and they account for more than $100 billion in market value—a sizable chunk of the $1.2 trillion industry.

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