Mark Cuban Says Bitcoin, Crypto Will Soon Face SEC “Nightmare”

Tightened SEC regulation of the cryptocurrency industry represents a potential “nightmare” for the struggling sector, whose prices already have been battered by surging interest rates and recession fears, billionaire Mark Cuban warned on Twitter.

Cuban provided his dire warning in response to a tweet from Sen. Pat Toomey (R-Pa.), who had slammed the SEC after it brought insider trading charges against a former Coinbase product manager. 

The senator said the SEC took an enforcement action without clarifying why it views certain digital coins as “securities” similar to stocks or bonds.

“Yesterday’s enforcement action is the perfect example of the SEC having a clear opinion on how and why certain tokens classify as securities,” said Toomey, ranking member of the Senate Banking Committee. “Yet the SEC failed to disclose their view before launching an enforcement action.”

“Think this is bad? Wait till you see what they come up with for registration of tokens,” Cuban tweeted in response to Toomey. “That’s the nightmare that’s waiting for the crypto industry. How else do you keep thousands of lawyers employed and create reasons to ask for more taxpayer money?”

The possibility of requiring the registration of cryptocurrencies as a form of security is a matter of intense debate as the feds mull potential regulations for the industry. The debate intensified last week after the SEC unveiled insider trading charges against the ex-Coinbase employee, Ishan Wahi, as well as his brother and a friend.

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