A Texas cryptocurrency company and an industry group sued the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on Wednesday, saying the regulator has overstepped its authority and asking a judge to rule that digital assets traded on exchanges are not securities, Reuters reported. Fort Worth-based crypto company Lejilex and lobbying group Crypto Freedom Alliance of Texas (CFAT) claim the SEC has asserted jurisdiction over the industry without a "clear statutory mandate." Lejilex says it seeks to run a cryptocurrency platform called Legit.Exchange. The company formed last year said it plans to list digital assets including those the SEC has deemed securities in lawsuits against Coinbase, the largest cryptocurrency exchange in the U.S., and Binance, the world's largest crypto exchange. Lejilex wants the court to rule that listing pre-existing tokens will not violate securities laws. Both Coinbase and Binance have denied the SEC's allegations. CFAT asked the court to block the SEC from suing its members, and said the agency's assertion of jurisdiction over digital assets has made it harder to convince Texas lawmakers to embrace "sensible policies." The group launched last year and counts Coinbase and venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz's a16z crypto fund as members.
