NFT
The past 48 hours have been grim for the crypto industry. On Monday, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) sued crypto exchange Binance and its founder and CEO Changpeng Zhao for allegedly violating federal securities laws. The next day, the SEC filed a lawsuit against Coinbase over similar allegations. Later in the afternoon, the SEC attempted to freeze assets related to Binance.US, the exchange’s US-based entity.
The crackdown is not surprising to some; however, it adds to the frustration over the lack of policy and regulatory clarity in the United States around crypto. While the lawsuits have so far only targeted Binance and Coinbase, the news has rocked the entire industry and the value of the tokens mentioned in the filings has plummeted. Some critics hyperbolized that the situation could spell crypto’s doom.
But those coming from the crypto space are familiar with cycles of volatility and regulatory pushback and have urged each other to speak out in support of a decentralized financial future. Since Monday morning, figures in the crypto space have been hitting Coinbase’s Stand with Crypto non-fungible token (NFT) on coin platform Zora to mark their commitment to crypto while demanding regulatory clarity.
An NFT for clarity about the regulations
In April, as regulatory fears continued to grip the crypto space following the series of crypto bank collapses, Coinbase rolled out its open-edition mint of the Stand with Crypto NFT. According to the entry on Zora, the commemorative NFT symbolizes the crypto community’s desire for regulatory clarity and commitment to the space in the face of legal challenges.
Following the NFT’s beating, Twitter users have been called upon to display a shield emoji in their usernames in solidarity with the movement.
“We are united with the crypto community in our efforts to advocate for prudent crypto policies in the US,” a Coinbase spokesperson told CoinDesk. “The Crypto Commemorative NFT Booth is a symbol of unity for the crypto community – representing our collective booth to protect and promote the potential of crypto in the United States.”
While the Booth with Crypto NFT is free to obtain, the site specifies that platform coin fees will be donated to vetted organizations through Crypto Advocacy Round via Gitcoin to support crypto advocacy efforts.
At the time of writing, more than 138,000 of the NFTs have been minted. Prominent figures in the NFT and crypto space have hit the NFT so far.
When Zora released the collection in April, Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong tweeted that he had just smashed one of the NFTs.
On Tuesday night, after the trial, he tweeted the link again.
Other space figures also tweet shield emojis to show their support.
Alex Xu, the founder of the popular NFT collection Azuki who goes by Zagabond on Twitter, posted an edit of his profile picture (PFP) with Coinbase shield art.
“Coinbase has been the most compliant exchange and brought millions of people on board with crypto,” Xu said in a tweet. “I support Brian Armstrong for his opposition to the SEC and hope that this fight will bring greater regulatory clarity to the entire space.”
While the sentiment surrounding the shield has been mostly positive, some Twitter users have criticized Armstrong for using the NFT to send a good signal.
“If your CEO tweets this after being sued by the SEC, it’s over,” said Twitter user BuccoCapital Guy. “Also, your ‘Stand with Crypto’ NFT hits a little differently when you tweet it from your $113 million compound.”
