Eighteen states have sued the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and members of the Biden administration for actions they argue the agency has illegally taken against cryptocurrency companies and their employees.
The lawsuit was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Kentucky Frankfort Division and names the SEC, its chair and four commissioners as defendants.
The Commonwealth of Kentucky filed the lawsuit, joined by the attorney generals of Nebraska, Tennessee, West Virginia, Iowa, Texas, Mississippi, Montana, Arkansas, Ohio, Kansas, Missouri, Indiana, Utah, Louisiana, South Carolina, Oklahoma, Florida and DeFi Education Fund.
In response to the development of new blockchain technology, states have begun their own oversight of the digital asset industry, the 51-page brief notes. “Some states have enacted regulatory regimes for financial institutions focused on digital assets; others have required digital asset platforms to obtain money-transmitter licenses and security bonds to guarantee liquidity; others have embraced the rise of digital assets more generally, such as by allowing citizens to use digital assets to pay taxes and fees, or by amending their unclaimed-property laws to provide specific procedures for escheatment of digital assets.”
