SEC draws public anger again: NFTs may be classified as securities, or Opensea may be sued

Original title: "SEC locks NFT as a security! OpenSea received a Wells Notice, which caused a storm in the market. BLUR and TNSR both plunged.

Original source: Zhang joy, BlockTempo

NFT trading platform OpenSea announced major negative news last night (28). Co-founder and CEO Devin Finzer posted on X that the platform had received a Wells Notice from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The SEC determined that NFTs are securities and OpenSea may face legal action:

"OpenSea received a Wells Notice from the SEC. They threatened to sue us because they believe that the NFTs on our platform are securities."

Note: A Wells Notice usually refers to a notice issued to an individual or company after the SEC's investigation is completed, indicating that the SEC believes that they may have violated securities laws. After submitting the notice, the SEC has 6 months to decide whether to file a lawsuit and take enforcement action. Companies that receive notices from the SEC also have the right to respond.

OpenSea: Will provide $5 million to pay legal fees for NFT artists

In response to the SEC's actions, CEO Devin first stated that they will not be afraid of power and will be ready to fight the SEC:

"We are shocked that the SEC has taken such action against NFT creators and artists, but we are ready to fight this battle.

Cryptocurrency has long been a focus of the SEC, and companies such as Coinbase, Uniswap, and Robinhood have also been fighting the SEC."

At the same time, Devin also stated that NFTs are essentially creative commodities and cannot be identified as securities:

"Through actions against NFTs, the SEC It will stifle innovation on a broader scale, and hundreds of thousands of online artists and creative people will be at risk, and many of them will not be able to protect themselves.

NFTs are essentially creative commodities, including artworks, collectibles, and so on. ”

Finally, Devin promised to provide $5 million in funds to NFT artists and creators who received the Wells Notice to cover the legal costs they may face:

“It would be a terrible thing if creators stopped exploring digital art because of regulatory pressure.

In addition to sticking to our position, we will also provide $5 million in funds to help creators who received the Wells Notice pay legal fees. Every creator, big or small, should be able to innovate without fear.”

Uniswap CEO: SEC is stupid

As the largest decentralized exchange (DEX) on Ethereum, Uniswap also received a Wells Notice from the SEC in April this year. When OpenSea was treated the same way, Uniswap CEO Hayden Adams also voiced his support on Twitter last night, saying that the SEC is stupid, welcome OpenSea to join the fight against the SEC:

"Welcome to join our fight.

In the field of cryptocurrency, the SEC issued a Wells Notice to your company, which means that you are a legitimate company developing important products in the United States.

The SEC is a clown, and their actions represent their stupid position. They simply believe that digital art on the chain is securities."

BLUR and TNSR are affected

Affected by the SEC's suspected determination that NFTs are securities, another NFT trading platform on Ethereum, Blur (BLUR), and NFT market aggregator Tensor (TNSR) on Solana were both affected.

BLUR and TNSR both dropped nearly 9% in three hours after the news broke, but later rebounded and the decline narrowed.

BLUR coin price

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