Many pro-crypto voices have voiced opposition to Wells’ notice to NFT marketplace OpenSea on August 28, as the SEC’s sweeping crackdown has progressed unchecked.
OpenSea was then named to the SEC’s chopping block just a week after Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris opened up about adopting crypto-friendly policies.
Wells’ notice from the SEC indicates that OpenSea could be sued for violating federal securities laws by facilitating sales of non-fungible tokens or digital collectibles via its on-chain exchange.
OpenSea launched in 2017 and gained momentum in 2020/2021 during the NFT boom. Many likened the digital art collections in the NFT marketplace to baseball and Pokemon trading cards but with web3-inspired art issued on decentralized networks like Ethereum (ETH).
The SEC is a bunch of clowns with the idiotic attitude that digital art magically turns into security when it is put on the blockchain.
Hayden Adams, CEO of Uniswap
While OpenSea has pledged a $5 million legal relief package to creators, MonkeDAO attorney Ariel Gevner has allayed concerns about direct litigation against individual artists. Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong has expressed an optimistic outlook on crypto operators being scrutinized by the SEC.
The industry chorus condemned the move as “yet another regulation by enforcement” by the SEC, headed by Gary Gensler, who many cryptocurrency advocates say should be fired. Speculators also pointed out that Wells’ OpenSea notice was published less than a day after former President Donald Trump released his fourth NFT collection.
The news did little to boost Harris’s odds on PolyMarket, where Trump is ahead by 1%. Betting on who will win the 2024 presidential election remains a coin flip in the Polygon-based prediction market. News of another SEC crackdown on cryptocurrencies could strain already tense relations between a potential Harris presidency and an industry that has He spent $119 million for lobbying in 2024.
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