During a hearing, US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Chairman Gary Gensler clashed with Republications on the House Financial Services Committee over digital asset regulations, with lawmakers criticizing the SEC’s approach.

According to its CEO Brian Armstrong, Nasdaq-listed cryptocurrency trading platform Coinbase has been preparing for a lengthy legal battle with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission after the regulator accused it of potential securities law violations.

The Ethereum blockchain currently has 575,359 validators, and approximately 5% of those validators are opting to leave Ethereum’s staking system by unstaking their ETH – a possibility after the rollout of the Shapella upgrade last week. They are, however, having to wait 17 days for their ETH to be unstaked.

Top stories in the Crypto Roundup today:

• GOP Lawmakers Challenge SEC’s Approach to Crypto Oversight
• Coinbase CEO Says Crypto Exchange is Preparing for SEC Lawsuit
• Ethereum Validators Face 17-Day Wait to Unstake ETH
• DEX Volumes Rise As Centralized Exchange Consolidation Continues

GOP Lawmakers Challenge SEC’s Approach to Crypto Oversight

During a hearing, US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Chairman Gary Gensler clashed with Republications on the House Financial Services Committee over digital asset regulations, with lawmakers criticizing the SEC’s approach.

Republicans on the House Financial Services Committee argued in a letter sent before the hearing that the national securities exchange framework is ill-fitting for digital assets and said that the SEC has failed to provide clarity on which digital assets may be considered securities.

Gensler, in his prepared remarks, emphasized the importance of compliance with securities laws, arguing that most crypto tokens are considered securities and that investor protection is crucial, as real people’s life savings are at risk.

However, Republican committee members grilled Gensler on the SEC's handling of crypto, accusing him of incompetence and rushing the rulemaking process, which caused harm and lacked rigor or evidence bases.

Chairman Patrick McHenry also confronted Gensler on the contradictory guidance surrounding Ethereum (ETH), asking whether it is a commodity or a security. Gensler did not provide a clear answer, leading to further confrontations between the two.

Other representatives questioned Gensler on actions the SEC has taken that would prevent banks from being able to custody digital assets and expressed surprise that the SEC seemed unaware of certain operational aspects of major crypto platforms, such as FTX.

Coinbase CEO Says Crypto Exchange is Preparing for SEC Lawsuit

According to its CEO Brian Armstrong, Nasdaq-listed cryptocurrency trading platform Coinbase has been preparing for a lengthy legal battle with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission after the regulator accused it of potential securities law violations.

The cryptocurrency exchange received a Wells notice from the regulator last month, indicating potential enforcement action is due. The notice is often a final step the regulator takes before filing charges.

Armstrong, in response to the Wells notice, expressed disappointment and revealed that Coinbase hadn’t received any clear details from the SEC on the alleged violations. The CEO said that Coinbase is, if necessary, ready to face the SEC in a long legal dispute.

He said that the company wants t clear guidance from the regulator, but may have to sue to get it. He also slammed the SEC for not providing enough clarity for crypto businesses, saying that the regulator was neglecting its duty and leaving the market in the dark.

Ethereum Validators Face 17-Day Wait to Unstake ETH

The Ethereum blockchain currently has 575,359 validators, and approximately 5% of those validators are opting to leave Ethereum’s staking system by unstaking their ETH – a possibility after the rollout of the Shapella upgrade last week. They are, however, having to wait 17 days for their ETH to be unstaked.

Validators play a crucial role in proposing and adding transaction blocks to the Ethereum blockchain as part of the validation process. In exchange, they can receive newly minted ETH and a portion of related transaction fees.

With the Shapella upgrade, staked ETH can be withdrawn in two ways: partial and full. Partial withdrawals keep the validators running by automatically distributing the ETH to them, so they have the required 32 ETH balance. Full withdrawals stop the validator and take out the whole staked amount.

For those unstaking their funds, a voluntary exit message is first sent, which entails a 25-minute wait, according to analyst Niklas Polk. After that, they join the exit queue, which currently lasts 11.7 days. Following this phase, a withdrawal delay of approximately 27 hours occurs. Finally, after another 4.25 days, withdrawals are processed and deposited.

For those processing partial withdrawals, delays are  about 4.27 days, and these are automatically deposited into validator addresses if their unstaking credentials are properly configured

DEX Volumes Rise As Centralized Exchange Consolidation Continues

In Q1 2023, average monthly crypto exchange volumes dropped by 16.8% compared to 2022, with the top 8 exchanges now accounting for 70.5% of total volumes. Binance's market share rose from 33.2% in January 2022 to 50.3% in March 2023.

Despite the yearly volume decrease, centralized exchanges saw a 23.2% increase in monthly volumes compared to Q4 2022. Decentralized exchanges (DEXs) experienced a 27.6% increase in average monthly volumes from Q4 2022 to Q1 2023.

Dig deeper into the cryptocurrency world through CCData’s latest Outlook Report.

State of the Crypto by Top Tier Exchange Volume

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