Uniswap Labs Shares Response to U.S. SEC Wells Notice
On May 21, Uniswap Labs shared its response to the U.S. SEC’s Wells notice, noting that the commission’s legal theories are weak and wrong. According to the developer behind Uniswap Protocol, the commission should not attempt to litigate open-source technology out of existence but embrace it due to its capacity to improve old-fashioned commercial and financial systems.
Uniswap Labs said the SEC is putting forward aggressive theories towards expanding its jurisdiction beyond exchanges to communications technology, as well as beyond securities to all markets. The developers expressed weakness in the SEC’s legal arguments, which have also been refuted by courts.
According to the assertions of the commission, the Uniswap Protocol is an unregistered securities exchange controlled by Uniswap Labs and the Uniswap interface is an unregistered securities broker-dealer. Likewise, it was alleged that Uniswap’s native crypto token (UNI) is an investment contract.
“The Protocol is a general purpose computer program that anyone can use and integrate, like TCP/IP. And the hundreds of thousands of users who received UNI tokens for their participation in the protocol’s early days received the token for free, with no contract, and without expectations of profit solely from the efforts of Uniswap Labs,” said Uniswap Labs.
The developer expressed its readiness to engage in the legal battle initiated by the commission, promising to defend people’s right to the usage and distribution of general-purpose code that challenges incumbents to upgrade, adapt, and compete. Uniswap Labs wants to continue building while its legal team takes on this fight for American innovation and financial freedom.
The developer mentioned the Financial Innovation and Technology for the 21st Century Act (FIT21) bill that could hit the House floor for a vote on May 22, noting that it “would give the CFTC robust authority to cover digital asset trading.”