SushiSwap Defense Fund Against SEC Subpoena Already in Works

In a governance proposal released Tuesday afternoon, the DEX said it hopes to sell 15% of its treasury to fund its legal defense efforts

article-image

David Sandron/Shutterstock.com modified by Blockworks

share

The SEC on Tuesday served a subpoena on Tuesday to decentralized crypto exchange SushiSwap — presumably regarding concerns over its native token, Sushi. 

In a governance proposal released Tuesday afternoon, the DEX said it hopes to sell 15% of its treasury to fund legal defense efforts. 

“The international regulatory environment for DAOs remains in flux, and the options for contributor insurance policies remain limited,” Jared Grey, Sushi head chef, wrote in the governance forum Tuesday. “Therefore, we propose Sushi DAO make available a legal defense fund of 3M USDT.

Sushi and Grey were both served, the forum noted. 

“We’re cooperating with the SEC,” Grey said in the proposal. “We do not intend to comment publicly on ongoing investigations or other legal matters.”

The proposal received six votes in the first 30 minutes after being published, all of which were in favor of establishing the legal defense fund. 

The subpoena is only the latest in a series of recent SEC actions to look into various crypto tokens and projects over concerns of unregistered securities offerings. Ripple has been fighting its case in court over accusations that its XRP token is an unregistered security for more than two years. 

When a crypto company is served a subpoena, or a Wells notice, or an enforcement action — and there have been no shortage lately — they need to operate under the assumption that the SEC’s case is already decided, Stuart Alderoty, chief legal officer at Ripple, said.

“The fix is in, and do what you what you need to do to cooperate under the law but don’t fool yourself into believing that you’re going to curry favor with [the SEC] or that you’re going to be able to sway them, because you never will and their goal ultimately will be to crush you or destroy your business,” Alderoty said. 

Grey declined Blockworks’ request for comment.


Get the day’s top crypto news and insights delivered to your email every evening. Subscribe to Blockworks’ free newsletter now.


Want alpha sent directly to your inbox? Get degen trade ideas, governance updates, token performance, can’t-miss tweets and more from Blockworks Research’s Daily Debrief.


Can’t wait? Get our news the fastest way possible. Join us on Telegram and follow us on Google News.


Tags

upcoming event

MON - WED, MARCH 18 - 20, 2024

Digital Asset Summit (DAS) is returning March 2024. This year’s event will be held in our nation’s capital, where industry leaders, policymakers, and institutional experts will come together to discuss the latest developments and challenges in the ever-evolving world of cryptocurrency. […]

upcoming event

MON - WED, SEPT. 11 - 13, 2023

2022 was a meme.Skeptics danced, believers believed.Eventually, newcomers turned away, drained of liquidity and hope.Now, the tide is shifting and it’s time to rebuild. Permissionless II is the brainchild of Blockworks and Bankless. It’s not just a conference, but a call […]

recent research

Sequencers: The Key to The Rollup Investment Thesis

Research

Sequencers are one of the most explicit mechanisms in crypto for creating sustainable DAO-controlled revenue.

/

article-image

Every time incremental improvements are made to the execution environment, “we launch a new layer-1,” Al-Bassam says

article-image

Grayscale Investments, Kraken and BlockFi are among the industry players floating support, and suggestions, as the comment period winds down

article-image

Bitcoin miners have had a tough few years — but in the Roblox metaverse, they’re thriving

article-image

“Polkadot and Cosmos share a similar vision where you have a range of heterogeneous blockchains working together,” Jafar Azam told Blockworks

article-image

Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong says the SEC suit is “very different from others out there”

article-image

The SEC greenlighting a public offering is a nuanced process that is “not passing merit on the business,” industry exec says