Mark Cuban attacks.
The billionaire, who is shaking up the pharmaceutical industry by slashing drug prices, also wants to use his influence to advance the cause of another economic sector: the crypto industry, in which he is one of the most fervent and famous investors.
Cuban has invested in several varied projects, ranging from web 3, the new iteration of the internet, to blockchain companies, nonfungible tokens to the ether cryptocurrency, whose Ethereum platform he supports.
Cuban is a noted Ethereum maximalist, which means he favors the platform over other blockchains. Ethereum has smart contracts, which are computer code that determines the terms of a transaction (loans, trading, etc.) and don't rely on any third party.
Smart contracts are at the center of decentralized finance, or DeFi, the crypto version of classic financial services that don't require middlemen.
But his optimism in this young industry also comes with risks for Cuban. He has been sued by retail investors who allege they were duped by him and Voyager Digital. Voyager, a crypto platform that offers traditional financial services, recently filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy as TheStreet has reported.
The Dallas Mavericks, the National Basketball Association franchise Cuban owns, and Voyager Digital in October signed a five-year contract, aiming to promote cryptocurrencies by making coins more accessible through educational and digital programs.
As part of the partnership, Voyager promised Dallas Mavericks' fans a $100 reward to trade crypto on Voyager for a limited time if they deposited $100 and traded just $10.
While this legal battle gets under way, Cuban is attacking a force that will only grow in influence over the crypto space: the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.
The industry is particularly suspicious of the regulatory agency, accusing it of deliberately refusing to enact clear rules. The federal agency prefers regulation by enforcement, crypto players criticize.
This was the case last month, for example, when the SEC surprised the industry by announcing that nine cryptocurrencies listed on Coinbase (COIN) , the most popular platform in the U.S., were unregistered securities.
This decision has important repercussions because tokens, or coins, until now have not been considered securities. This means that they escape strict regulatory supervision and are not subject to the same rules of financial transparency and disclosures as, for example, shares in a company. The listing process is also less strict than the one for securities.
At the time Cuban warned of a regulatory "nightmare" to come.
"Think this is bad?" the billionaire commented. "Wait till you see what they come up with for registration of tokens. That's the nightmare that's waiting for the crypto industry. How else do you keep thousands of lawyers employed and create reasons to ask for more taxpayer money?" the entrepreneur commented.
Cuban has just reiterated his criticism of what he believes to be the duplicity of the federal agency. He challenges SEC Chairman Gary Gensler to issue clear regulation about the financial services the crypto industry offers and to submit them for public comment, as often occurs when a regulator plans to regulate a sector.
"Since you understand crypto lending/finances, why don't you just publish bright line guidelines you would like to see and open it up for comments ?" Cuban wrote on Twitter on Aug. 22.
It all started with an op-ed from Gensler in The Wall Street Journal in which he defends the idea that the SEC treats crypto like the rest of the capital markets.
Gensler decided to promote his view on Twitter with the following message: "There’s no reason to treat the crypto market differently from the rest of the capital markets just because it uses a different technology."
Cuban reacted immediately, pointing out the disconnect between Gensler's words and the reality on the ground. In addition to the lack of clear rules, he deplores the fact that it is difficult to make a simple appointment with SEC agents, a criticism he raised for the first time in 2014.
"Come in and talk to who ? Set up an appointment how ? You using Calendly these days ?" the billionaire asked.
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