Despite acknowledging critiques of “regulation by enforcement,” Hirsch pushed back on the categorization.
The commission has had rules on the books dating back to the 1940s. While the SEC has put forward a “sincere effort” to provide guidance where it can, “we’re not your lawyers,” Hirsch said.
“You have to hire attorneys, and we are an agency of attorneys, accountants and other professionals,” he said. “Then we have to try to have a dialogue that’s productive, but we can’t tell you what the law is.”
Coinbase has said the company has had more than 30 meetings with the SEC, claiming the regulator had declined to identify which assets on its platform might be securities.
Hirsch said: “To the extent that you don’t get the answer you’re looking for and those discussions don’t prove to get you what you want — which is presumably a clean bill of health — that may say more about the conduct you’re engaged in than about the other side’s willingness to engage in the conversation.”
Source: SEC’s Hirsch faces the music: ‘What the hell are you doing?’ – Blockworks
