- The SEC has identified a number of tokens as securities including SAND.
- These measures were taken as part of larger crackdown on the crypto industry.
Sebastien Borget, co-founder and Chief Operating Officer of The Sandbox, addressed the effect of its SAND token possibly violating U.S. securities laws in response to the sensational lawsuits brought against two top crypto exchanges this week.
This week, the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) increased crypto enforcement. Thus, filing cases against Binance and Coinbase on consecutive days. The SEC has identified a number of tokens, notably SAND from the Sandbox metaverse game, as unregistered securities.
No Impact on Day-to-day Operations
Along with other major coins like Solana (SOL), Polygon (MATIC), and Cardano (ADA), as well as the AXS governance token of NFT game Axie Infinity and the MANA token of Decentraland, SAND was among several cryptocurrencies designated as such this week by the agency.
Borget stated:
“We are obviously aware of the litigation advanced against Binance and Coinbase in the U.S. from the SEC. We do not necessarily agree with the characterization that’s been put in that litigation, including the qualification of SAND as a security there.”
Moreover, the Sandbox’s token has “been named,” Borget said, but the team is “not ourselves directly subject to litigation.” He said, that the above has no impact on their day-to-day operations. The SEC filed complaints against the exchanges in close duration, Monday, and Tuesday. But its claims against Binance and Coinbase are distinct.
Binance was accused of operating an unlicensed exchange, broker, and clearing agency, as well as offering and selling securities that had not been registered with the SEC, allowing users from the US to utilize its international exchange, and providing access to its platform without verification.
However, Coinbase was also accused of running staking businesses that provide token holders profits similar to interest. These measures were taken as part of a larger U.S. crackdown on the cryptocurrency industry, spearheaded by SEC Chair Gary Gensler.
