Eighteen states have filed a lawsuit against the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and members of the Biden administration alleging that the SEC has taken illegal action against cryptocurrency companies and their employees, The Center Square reports.
The lawsuit, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Kentucky Frankfort Division, names the SEC, its chair and four commissioners as defendants.
Under the Biden administration’s SEC Chair Gary Gensler, the SEC “launched a regulatory assault against crypto companies” by labeling cryptocurrencies as investment contracts like stocks or bonds and thereby making them subject to SEC regulation, according to Kentucky Attorney General Russell Coleman.
As states have begun to implement their own regulatory measures, “Congress has repeatedly declined proposals to give federal agencies broad regulatory power over digital assets,” the lawsuit says. The plaintiffs contend that the SEC has sought to “unilaterally” wrest regulatory authority over the matter away from states.
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