In the SEC court against Telegram, another side may appear. Durov is in the hands

The SEC court against Telegram may have a third independent participant: a petition to become Amicus Curiae, that is, a “friend of the court” was submitted by the US Chamber of Digital Commerce, a human rights organization that advocates the rights of blockchain business in the United States. She wants to become an independent party in a case that informs the court on issues that are affected during the proceedings. So far, it seems that Pavel Durov’s participation of the chamber would be more at hand.

What's happened

The National Commerce Chamber wants to intervene in the trial between the US Securities and Exchange Commission (Sec) and Telegram as a third, independent side. The organization filed such a petition with the court almost immediately after the oncoming members of the parties on accelerated proceedings. The petition of the chamber says directly: we do not know whether Gram needs to recognize Gram a security. However, her experts insist: the court should not recognize Ton Securities tokens only because it is a digital asset and the subject of an investment contract - just the SEC insists on this.

Quote. “The chamber is interested in the legal framework applied to the digital assets underlying the investment contract to be clear and consistent,” the memorandum said along with the request of the memorandum.

What is important to know

The National Commerce Chamber is a non-profit organization that represents the interests of about 200 companies that develop blockchain technologies or invest in them. In 2015, the former executive director of JP Morgan Blyite Masks entered the advice of the chambers, in 2019-the former chairman of the commercial trade futures (CFTC) Commission, Christopher Dzhancarlo, also among its employees there are former SEC workers.

The main idea of ​​the Memorandum of the Chamber - the digital asset does not become a security just because it is digital. The chamber insists that there are different types of digital assets related to blockchain, and among them there are, of course, those that are inherently securities and should be regulated by SEC. But there are also tokens that are used to pay and are currencies, and also official tokens that give their owners access to some networks and applications. And before regulating them, it is necessary to separate these concepts at the legislative level and only after that decide what this or that asset is specifically.

At the same time, the United States simply does not have a legal framework that would determine these concepts related to blockchain, and existing laws are outdated decades ago and do not take into account these nuances, experts of the chamber believe. Judicial decisions that do not take into account the real situation can lead to the fact that the technology in which billions of dollars invest and which affects not only the financial sector, but also many others will not develop, according to the chamber: “This will lead to serious and disappointing consequences.”

The dispute

The main controversial issue is how to consider Durov’s cryptocurrency Gram. SEC is trying to prove that these are securities, and Telegram, attracting investors, violated American laws, as he did not register the placement. Telegram objects that he did not violate anything, since Gram is not a security, but a currency. We talked in detail about the position and arguments of the parties here .

What's next

It is still unclear whether the court will accept the petition for an accelerated consideration of the case by SEC and Telegram. The hearings were previously scheduled for February 18. As a rule, the court in the order of simplified production in the United States lasts no more than three months. But statistics on such cases are disappointing for Telegram: the courts satisfy about two thirds of lawsuits.