The U.S. SEC (Securities and Exchange Commission) has issued another subpoena against Bitcoin (BTC) mining company Marathon Digital. The firm disclosed the filing in its May 10 quarterly report. As per the report, the subpoena was filed on April 10, 2023. The report indicates that the filing might be related to the firm’s 100-megawatt data center in Hardin, Montana.
Nonetheless, the firm said that it was cooperating with the SEC. The report stated, “SEC may be investigating whether or not there may have been any violations of the federal securities law.”
However, this is not the first subpoena the Bitcoin miner has received from the SEC regarding its Montana facility. It received one in late Q3 2021, in which the SEC demanded that the company turn over a number of pertinent communications and documents. Recently, on May 9, Marathon Digital announced a partnership with Zero Two to build a large-scale immersion Bitcoin (BTC) mining facility in Abu Dhabi. The project would contain two mining facilities with a 250-megawatt capacity in total.
The Abu Dhabi mining project was announced right after U.S. President Joe Biden’s administration proposed a new tax for crypto miners operating in the U.S. The law would require miners to pay a tax that is 30% of the cost of electricity used while mining.
Is the SEC against Bitcoin and crypto?
It would not be fair to say that the SEC is against crypto in general. However, the problem appears to be the lack of clear regulations in the United States. Without a proper rulebook, every move seems to be against the industry as a whole. Moreover, the SEC and the CFTC (Commodity Futures Trading Commission) are unsure as to which department would overlook the crypto space.
Therefore, the blame lies on the lack of regulations, rather than on any agency. However, with that being said, it is the SEC and the CFTC that have to figure out which path they want to take for this emerging new asset class. Firms and companies should not take the fall for the lack of clear rules. It is anticipated that the United States will soon disclose its own crypto rulebook. Many believe the SEC vs Ripple lawsuit will provide much-needed light in the area.