DeFi Exchange Creator Uniswap Labs Says SEC Sent It Lawsuit Warning
04/11/2024 02:55
(Bloomberg) -- Uniswap Labs, the initial creator of the largest decentralized exchange on Ethereum, said the US Securities and Exchange Commission has warned the company of a potential enforcement action. Most Read from BloombergUS Slams Strikes on Russia Oil Refineries as Risk to Oil MarketsUS Inflation Refuses to Bend, Fanning Fears It Will StickChinese Cement Maker Halted After 99% Crash in 15 MinutesUS Sees Missile Strike on Israel By Iran, Proxies as ImminentS&P 500 Hit by Fed-Pivot Rethink
(Bloomberg) -- Uniswap Labs, the initial creator of the largest decentralized exchange on Ethereum, said the US Securities and Exchange Commission has warned the company of a potential enforcement action.
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The SEC’s Enforcement Division served Uniswap with a Wells Notice, notifying the company that it plans to recommend a legal action against it, the firm’s blog said. A representative for the SEC declined to comment.
It’s not immediately clear what the SEC is planning to sue Uniswap over, but its Chairman Gary Gensler has long said that decentralized crypto exchanges aren’t really decentralized and fall under its purview. As such, it may claim Uniswap is an unregistered exchange trading securities — similarly to cases it filed against centralized exchanges Coinbase Global Inc. and Binance last year.
Decentralized exchanges have long argued that they are structurally different than centralized exchanges, and are simply pieces of software that people use for trading without intermediaries.
“Uniswap Labs is prepared to fight against this abuse,” Marvin Ammori, chief legal officer at Uniswap, wrote on X. “And we’re confident we’ll win.”
Uniswap’s UNI token fell around 11% to $10 on Wednesday. Prices of other native tokens of decentralized exchanges are down by similar amounts, according to data compiled by CoinGecko.
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