The New York Attorney General Letitia James has sued the crypto exchange – Kucoin – for offering and purchasing unregistered securities and commodities. Notably, the AG claims that Kucoin violated the Martin Act in three ways. The lawsuit stated,
“Petitioner seeks a permanent injunction to end the ongoing illegal activities of Mek Global Limited and Phoenixfin PTE Ltd., both doing business as KuCoin (hereinafter collectively referred to as “KuCoin”) (…) in violation of General Business Law (“GBL”) § 352 et seq. (the “Martin Act”) and Executive Law”
Moreover, in her case against the crypto exchange, AG James brands Ethereum (ETH), Terra (LUNA, and UST as securities. The Howey Test was applied by the NYAG to classify them as securities. The lawsuit said,
“The first element of the Howey test, the investment of money, is satisfied here because members of the public invest money in order to buy ETH and purchase LUNA and UST. See Pet. ¶¶ 23, 29-31, 33; Metz Aff. ¶¶ 15, 58-60. Typically, investors must provide consideration, which may be in the form of cash or other cryptocurrencies, in order to acquire the Token”
The story is still developing
Source: https://ambcrypto.com/nyag-lists-ethereum-eth-as-security-in-lawsuit-against-kucoin/