Mike Novogratz Says He’s Not Expecting ‘Quick Closure’ on SEC Crypto Suits

2023-06-07 22:23

Mike Novogratz, the founder of Galaxy Digital Holdings Ltd., said he’s not expecting a “quick closure” on the

Mike Novogratz, the founder of Galaxy Digital Holdings Ltd., said he’s not expecting a “quick closure” on the recent lawsuits brought by the US Securities and Exchange Commission against Coinbase Global Inc and Binance Holdings Ltd.

“That case probably won’t be litigated for a few months,” Novogratz said when asked about the lawsuit against Coinbase at a fintech investor conference held by Piper Sandler on Wednesday. “There’s not going to be quick closure on any of this. It makes it very difficult to figure out what you should do.”

While the SEC labeled many major tokens as securities in recent lawsuits, it didn’t include Bitcoin, Ethereum and stablecoin USD Coin, Novogratz said. “So if you take the opposite - three-quarters of our industry even in the US is available to play.”

Read More: SEC Targets $120 Billion of Tokens With Coinbase, Binance Suits

This week, the SEC widened its sweeping crackdown on crypto through a one-two punch against the biggest players in the industry. On Tuesday, it accused Coinbase of running an illegal exchange. Just a day earlier, the regulator sued rival Binance Holdings Ltd., alleging it mishandled customer funds, misled investors and regulators, and broke securities rules.

Coinbase’s chief legal officer, Paul Grewal, said it is willing to take its legal fight with the SEC to the Supreme Court if needed. Binance called the SEC’s complaint “disappointing,” and “we intend to defend our platform vigorously.”

Institutions are “not playing right now,” especially in the US, Novogratz, the CEO of Galaxy, said. “What we are seeing right now is a constant, small, little buying everyday of retail ‘hodlers,’ getting aggregated on apps like Square, Robinhood, Revolut over the UK, through smaller brokerages that keep buying,” he said.

Galaxy is moving more of its operations offshore, Novogratz said. With rising investor interests in artificial intelligence, crypto now needs to demonstrate its usefulness, he said. “I don’t think you’re gonna get that narrative building again until we have an app on the phone that you’re using web3.”