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The SEC has sent a Wells notice to Uniswap Labs, declaring their intention to enforce the law.
Hayden Adams, the founder of Uniswap, stated: “I’m not surprised. I just feel uncomfortable and disappointed, but we’re ready to face the challenge. I believe that the products we provide are legal and we are doing the right thing historically.”
Today @Uniswap Labs received a Wells notice from the SEC.
I’m not surprised. Just annoyed, disappointed, and ready to fight.
I am confident that the products we offer are legal and that our work is on the right side of history. But it’s been clear for a while that rather than…
— Hayden Adams 🦄 (@haydenzadams) April 10, 2024
Adams also expressed dissatisfaction with the SEC focusing on dealing with companies like Uniswap and Coinbase instead of addressing cases like FTX.
The SEC has been investigating Uniswap for a long time. According to the Wall Street Journal, since September 2021, the agency has initiated an investigation into the operations of Uniswap Labs, especially regarding the functioning of the exchange without the need for intermediaries.
Information about law enforcement actions against Uniswap comes amid the SEC’s increasing focus on controlling cryptocurrency activities, especially with major companies like Coinbase, Ripple, and Binance.
Related: TRON Foundation Asserts Strongly Against SEC Lawsuit
The Ethereum Foundation, a support organization for the Ethereum network, recently disclosed that they have been “voluntarily requested to participate in an investigation by government agencies,” but did not specify the status of that investigation. Some other cryptocurrency companies have also faced legal accountability related to their transactions with the Ethereum Foundation.
1/ Today’s Wells notice against @Uniswap is disappointing, but is not unexpected from this SEC
It’s another abuse of power – unsurprising from an SEC that:
Last month, a federal judge ruled committed a "gross abuse of power" by lying in court about a crypto project
— Marvin Ammori (@ammori) April 10, 2024
Marvin Ammori, Legal Director of Uniswap Labs, described the SEC’s warning about law enforcement as “another abuse of power” and deemed the Wells notice “regrettable, but not surprising.” He also emphasized that Uniswap’s products comply with U.S. law and seek cooperation with reasonable regulations for cryptocurrencies, rather than continuing the abuse of power. Uniswap Labs is prepared to fight against this abuse and believes they will prevail.
Aweasome
@AzCoiner is faithful and law abiding
Grow up, SEC.
Sec will not succeed on this. Stand firm as far as you know you products
Uniswap Labs, the Brooklyn-based outfit primarily responsible for developing the protocol of the same name, reportedly received a Wells Notice indicating the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission intends to sue. While the decentralized finance (DeFi) behemoth said it is “ready to fight” the SEC, indicating a willingness to go to court, the move does represent the latest front in the SEC’s yearslong battle with the crypto industry.
This is an excerpt from The Node newsletter, a daily roundup of the most pivotal crypto news on CoinDesk and beyond. You can subscribe to get the full newsletter here.
And to some extent, it is entirely predictable. Before this, the SEC has filed suit against U.S.-based exchanges Coinbase and Kraken. In fact, the reason the industry is so familiar with the term “Wells Notice” is because Coinbase received one in the months before the SEC’s lawsuit dropped. But the move is also a serious escalation in the SEC’s anti-crypto legal barrage.
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“Taking into account the SEC’s ongoing lawsuits against Coinbase and others as well as their complete unwillingness to provide clarity or a path to registration to those operating lawfully within the US, we can only conclude that this is the latest political effort to target even the best actors building technology on blockchains,” Uniswap said on a blog announcing the Wells Notice.
The SEC’s biggest crypto cases so far have been after centralized institutions — the aforementioned centralized exchanges Coinbase and Kraken and the company behind the XRP cryptocurrency, Ripple. Suing the organization behind a decentralized protocol like Uniswap is uncharted te