.png)
Here’s what the DeFi Education Fund (DEF) has been up to in March 2024. If you have any questions or would like to learn more about a specific activity, please do not hesitate to reach out at contact@defieducationfund.org.
DEF & Beba Sue the SEC
In March, DEF and Beba, a Waco, Texas-based apparel company, sued the SEC.
Our suit seeks relief on two fronts:
A declaration that $BEBA tokens are not themselves investment contracts and a free airdrop of a $BEBA token is not a securities transaction; and
An order that the SEC violated the Administrative Procedure Act (“APA”) when it adopted behind closed doors its “nearly all digital assets are investment contracts and nearly all digital asset transactions are securities transactions” policy.
This suit, as we noted in a blog post on the suit, “is about reigning in unchecked agency power and overreach. The crypto community has been under attack for years by the SEC, which has refused to publicly clarify basic rules for digital asset transactions and sidestepped Congress to engage in a destructive enforcement crusade based on its “poorly conceived crypto policy.” The agency’s freestyle policymaking since Chair Gensler’s appointment means that anyone seeking to do anything with a digital asset must fear being the SEC’s next target. DEF brought this suit to protect the industry and seek a clear court order that the SEC’s regulation of digital assets by enforcement is unlawful.”
The SEC has 60 days from the filing to respond to the brief. DEF will provide updates as the matter develops.
Additional Resources:
Crypto Policy in the EU
On March 15 and 18, DEF, alongside partners at Polygon Labs, the Solana Foundation and the NEAR Foundation, hosted two additional crypto policy bootcamps in Europe.
The bootcamps in Paris and London, follow prior bootcamps in New York City and Washington, DC, but with a European twist.
Policy debates are happening all around the world, with new laws being introduced continuously. The bootcamps are an important resource to ensure that developers and entrepreneurs understand the implications of policies being put forth in their jurisdictions as well as to provide them with the tools to advocate for themselves.
Our next policy bootcamps will take place in May in Austin, TX on the sidelines of the Consensus conference.
Media
Blog Post
Podcasts
On the Brink: DeFi Education Fund & Beba sue the SEC
The James Rule Crypto Show: DeFi Education Fund & Beba sue the SEC
Print/Online
Axios: Texas apparel company hits SEC with preemptive lawsuit over airdropped token
The lawsuit's second claim, on which the decentralized finance advocacy group DeFi Education Fund is joining as co-plaintiff, asserts that the SEC adopted a new policy — without notice — since chairman Gary Gensler's 2021 appointment.
Blockworks: So, we’re all suing the SEC now?
Days after being hit with sanctions in a US district court, the Securities and Exchange Commission was served another lawsuit Monday, this time from co-defendants — the DeFi Education Fund and NFT issuer Beba.
Bloomberg Law: DeFi Group, Apparel Co. Sue SEC Over Closed-Door Crypto Policy
A crypto industry group and a West Texas apparel company are suing the Securities and Exchange Commission, arguing the agency’s “poorly conceived” crypto policy needs to go through rulemaking.
The DeFi Education Fund and apparel company Beba are suing the Securities and Exchange Commission, asking a Texas district court to declare that their $BEBA token airdrop is not a security and to enforce the Administrative Procedure Act on the SEC's rule-making process.
Law360: Crypto Group, Apparel Co. Sue Over SEC Crypto Policy
Waco-based brand Beba LLC and the DeFi Education Fund told a Texas federal court that the SEC "gets the law wrong" when it targets free distribution of crypto tokens, known as airdrops, as unregistered securities transactions. They're asking the court to declare that Beba's airdrop is on the right side of securities law and that the regulator can't broadly enforce its "new unwritten policy" that the bulk of digital asset transactions are securities.
Capitol Account: SEC Sued to Halt Crypto `Regulation by Enforcement'
There’s been a lot of litigation over Gary Gensler’s rules. But today, the SEC got hit with an unusual lawsuit – over regulations that it hasn’t issued and an enforcement action that it hasn’t brought. No surprise, it’s coming from the crypto industry...The case, filed in a Texas federal court by the DeFi Education Fund and a company called Beba, is pretty unique. It’s known as a pre-enforcement challenge, and the court is being asked to declare that a free token the apparel firm created to attract customers is not a security – and thus won’t set off an SEC probe.
DL News: A tiny startup that sells backpacks takes on the SEC with a crypto airdrop lawsuit
Battered by a US crackdown, the crypto industry is tired of playing defence against the Securities and Exchange Commission...That’s why the DeFi Education Fund has been trying for months to find the perfect plaintiff with both the standing and backbone to take on Gary Gensler’s crypto-hostile agency.
Decrypt: Crypto Airdrops Are Not Securities, Lawsuit Against SEC Argues
On Monday, the DeFi Education Fund (DEF) filed a lawsuit in a Texas federal court against the SEC, arguing that Beba, a Texas-based apparel company, did not violate U.S. securities laws by airdropping its BEBA crypto token to customers for free.
The Defiant: SEC Faces Lawsuit Seeking To Exempt Airdrops From Securities Classification
The DeFi Education Fund teamed up with Beba Collection, a small apparel company, in a bid to get regulatory clarity from the courts on airdrops.
Decrypt: SEC Sanctioned By Court for ‘Gross Abuse Of Power’ In Crypto Case
“I don't think anyone in the crypto industry is surprised that the SEC was so focused on its own advocacy that it lied to the court in order to bolster its position,” Amanda Tuminelli, Chief Legal Officer at DeFi Education Fund, told Decrypt. “My hope is that any judge with the SEC before them as a litigant will hold them to the highest standards and ensure the SEC supports their allegations with verifiable facts.”
For up-to-date information about what’s happening in D.C. and what we are up to, please follow us on Twitter @fund_defi and subscribe to our Substack.
Comments