TL;DR

• SEC Sues Kraken: The SEC has initiated a lawsuit against Kraken for operating without proper securities registration.
• Shift in SEC’s Strategy: Noticing a change, legal expert Mike Selig suggests the SEC is now using multiple district courts for crypto case evaluations, possibly due to concerns over losing cases like its ongoing battle with Ripple.
• XRP Not Targeted: In its recent actions, the SEC didn’t label Ripple’s XRP as a security.

Here is Why the SEC Changed Its Approach

The US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has once again attacked the cryptocurrency industry, filing a lawsuit against the digital asset exchange Kraken. It alleged that the latter has been operating as an unregistered securities exchange, broker, dealer, and clearing agency.

It is worth mentioning that Kraken is not the only crypto firm the SEC has beef with. Previously, the regulator sued Ripple, Binance, and Coinbase, accusing them of breaching several securities laws. 

However, the SEC’s approach in the latest lawsuit seems to be different than the ones before. One person who observed that is legal expert Mike Selig. He believes the watchdog has changed its strategy and has involved numerous district courts to “evaluate the security status of crypto secondary sales” because it is “worried” it might lose the case.

After Ripple, seems SEC is worried it will lose more crypto cases and playing the numbers game. With its complaint against Kraken, we have 3 district courts that will evaluate the security status of crypto secondary sales (SDNY, DDC, NDCA). Supreme Court may decide it all.

— Mike Selig (@MikeSeligEsq) November 20, 2023