As the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) looks to take legal action against Uniswap, reactions are pouring in. Hayden Adams, the platform’s creator, has been highly critical of the US financial watchdog, and other major cryptocurrency figures, including executives from Coinbase and Kraken, have voiced their support.
Uniswap VS the SEC: teams mobilized
Hayden Adams, Uniswap’s creator, announced the thunderclap last night. He confirmed that he had received a “Wells Notice” from the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), confirming that it wishes to bring charges against the protocol.
As a reminder, the decentralized exchange (DEX) development team is located in New York. It is therefore within the scope of action of the American financial regulator. But it chose not to flee to another country, again according to Hayden Adams:
“When you build technology that improves people’s lives, you don’t need to hide. “
He also explains that he would have had the opportunity to leave, but that “someone has to do the work, so it might as well be us. “
Crypto community rallies behind Uniswap
Hayden Adams believes the future of financial technology will be partly determined by this SEC action, and he’s not alone. Reactions have been numerous in the ecosystem, and they’re not kind to the SEC. Kraken CEO Dave Ripley called the action an “abuse of power”.
Adam Cochran, general partner at Cinneamhain Ventures, was also very surprised by the case, recalling that Uniswap has now been in existence for 6 years:
“The SEC has had YEARS to provide guidance regarding these behaviors, but has chosen not to. “
Brian Armstrong, CEO of Coinbase, also posted his support for Uniswap. As a reminder, his company has also been targeted by the SEC. Coinbase’s head of legal affairs, Paul Grewal, also pointed out that the SEC has just recently suffered a legal defeat, trying to go after a non-custodial wallet. In his opinion, this action could also be doomed to failure :
Sometimes you have to laugh or else you’ll cry. Question: how can you square the @SECGov‘s claim that @Uniswap acts as a broker with the Court’s ruling against the @SECGov just a handful of days ago? Answer: you can’t. https://t.co/K42aKw5YZc pic.twitter.com/OcegMnDWVu
– paulgrewal.eth (@iampaulgrewal) April 10, 2024
Still, the case raises questions: how do you judge a fully decentralized service that operates automatically? This is the question that will be addressed by the SEC. In the meantime, Hayden Adams couldn’t hide his bitterness:
“The SEC’s mission is to “protect investors and maintain orderly, fair and efficient markets.” […] That’s a noble mission, but I’d say Uniswap is fulfilling that role far better to date than the SEC.”
