Uniswap Labs has issued a defiant response to the SEC’s Wells discover, asserting the company’s makes an attempt to control DeFi are misguided and legally unsound.
The corporate stated in a Could 20 weblog put up that it’s assured it’ll come out victorious if compelled into litigation by the SEC. Uniswap Labs stated:
“We’re confident that our work is on the right side of history. The SEC should not devote its taxpayer-funded resources to bringing a case against us.”
The response comes amid a broader conflict over the way forward for monetary know-how and market regulation.
Legally unsound
Uniswap Labs criticized the SEC’s efforts to increase its jurisdiction over communications know-how and digital markets, claiming the company’s authorized arguments are weak and have been repeatedly refuted in court docket.
The corporate stated:
“We believe the SEC should embrace open-source technology that improves on outdated commercial and financial systems instead of attempting to litigate it out of existence.”
It additionally highlighted that the Uniswap Protocol aligns with the SEC’s mission to guard buyers and preserve honest, orderly, and environment friendly markets.
Uniswap Labs defended the Uniswap DEX as a significant market innovation that has enabled customers to transact immediately with out counting on centralized intermediaries. It added that the protocol — which operates autonomously and has facilitated $2 trillion in buying and selling quantity with out a single hack — affords clear, low-cost, and environment friendly buying and selling accessible globally 24/7.
Akin to a PDF file
In its full Wells response, Uniswap Labs rejected the SEC’s assertions that the protocol is an unregistered securities trade and that the UNI token constitutes an funding contract.
It argued that the ERC-20 token normal it helps is a “general file format for all forms of value.”
The corporate said:
“A token is a file format, like a PDF. The Protocol is a general purpose computer program that anyone can use and integrate, like TCP/IP.”
Uniswap Labs added that, even when the SEC is right that some securities transactions happen on its protocol, the protocol is “almost exclusively used for non-securities transactions” involving Ethereum, wrapped Bitcoin, stablecoins, and memecoins.
The SEC has argued that Uniswap is an trade managed by Uniswap Labs and that its interface acts as an unregistered broker-dealer.
Nonetheless, Uniswap Labs argues that the SEC’s place relies on incorrect assumptions and contends that these claims wrongly equate a digital file format with a safety.
The corporate stated the UNI token was airdropped to 1000’s of customers with out the expectation of revenue from the DEX’s efficiency, which suggests that it doesn’t meet the standards required by the Howey Check.
Uniswap assured in victory
Uniswap Labs CLO Marvin Ammori expressed confidence in Uniswap’s stance, stating on X:
“We have a very strong case. If forced to litigate, we will win.”
He asserted that Uniswap Labs’ case is “so strong that the SEC is trying to change the law.” Along with describing the file codecs argument, Amorri stated the SEC is working to redefine “exchange” and different phrases past their present that means.
He stated that courts have dismissed related arguments towards Coinbase by discovering that self-custodial wallets don’t meet the necessities to be a dealer.
Uniswap Labs has employed legal professionals who’ve gained two high-profile circumstances, together with former SEC enforcement head Andrew Ceresney and former US Solicitor Basic Don Verrilli.
The 2 legal professionals represented Ripple and Grayscale towards the SEC, respectively.
The SEC issued a Wells discover to Uniswap Labs on April 10, which indicated that the SEC’s Enforcement Division meant to suggest a lawsuit towards the agency.
In latest weeks, the SEC has additionally filed Wells notices towards the Ethereum growth agency Consensys and the retail brokerage Robinhood.
The SEC has not but initiated the anticipated lawsuits towards the three corporations. Consensys alone has responded with a preemptive lawsuit.