Quick take:
- Finzer sees the decision as a major move by the SEC against creators and artists.
- He believes digital art should not be regulated in the same way collateralised debt obligations are.
- OpenSea is not the first Web3 organisation to be issued with a Wells notice this year, the same happened to Robinhood Crypto in May.
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission’s (SEC) war on crypto continues with leading nonfungible token (NFT) marketplace OpenSea the latest to receive a Wells Notice. A “Wells Notice” is issued after a regulator finds infractions during an investigation.
Announcing the news on the X platform, OpenSea co-founder and CEO Devin Finzer branded the decision as a move against creators and artists.
“…this is a move into uncharted territory. By targeting NFTs, the SEC would stifle innovation on an even broader scale: hundreds of thousands of online artists and creatives are at risk, and many do not have the resources to defend themselves.”
The world’s largest NFT marketplace by registered users now joins a growing list of crypto companies that have been in the crosshairs with the SEC, including Binance, which ended up parting with $4.3 billion in fines, Coinbase, UniSwap, ConsenSys, and Kraken.
Earlier in the year, Robinhood’s crypto arm also received a “Wells Notice” from the U.S. securities watchdog.
Finzer believes NFTs should not be regulated the same way collateralised debt obligations are. “[They] are fundamentally creative goods: art, collectibles, video game items, domain names, event tickets, and more,” he wrote.
Finzer said his company plans to stand its ground in defence of an industry that has positively impacted people’s lives. From student artists finding full-time careers selling digital art to indie game developers enabling open markets with in-game items, Finzer highlighted a few examples, adding that “every creator, big or small, should be able to innovate without fear.”
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