A U.S. district court has sanctioned the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) for acting in "bad faith" in a lawsuit against Debt Box.
The SEC initially filed a motion to dismiss the company without prejudice, but it was rejected by Judge Robert Shelby, who sharply criticized the regulator for deliberately lying to the court about evidence obtained to secure a temporary restraining order and freeze Debt Box's assets in August 2023.
"The critical evidence" that the SEC offered "had no basis in fact" and yet was presented in a "deliberately false and misleading manner," - Shelby explained.
Meanwhile, several interest groups have filed amicus opinions in support of Coinbase's appeal, calling on the SEC to create clear rules for the cryptocurrency industry .
In separate filings before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit, the Crypto Council for Innovation, the Satoshi Action Fund, the Texas Blockchain Council, investment firm Paradigm, digital asset firm Lejilex and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce said the SEC lacks clear guidelines for market participants to follow successfully in the United States.
Many submissions argued that companies would be more likely to leave the country without clear traffic rules.
However, this is not stopping the SEC from expanding its operations. On March 19, it asked Congress for an additional $158 million in the 2025 federal budget to address "significant growth and change in our markets," including the "Wild West of cryptocurrency markets."
The Congressional Budget Justification - a document outlining the SEC's budget needs for the upcoming fiscal year 2025 - requests more than $2.5 billion for FY 2025, up from the $2.4 billion requested for FY 2024.
The Commission has reportedly issued subpoenas to companies in connection with attempts to label ETH as a security. Several U.S.-based companies have reportedly received subpoenas from the SEC asking them to provide documents and financial records regarding their dealings with the Ethereum Foundation.
