Uniswap fights back against SEC as the ethereum crackdown continues

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For years, the Securities and Exchange Commission has been cracking down on the crypto sector writ large, but in the last few months, the agency appears to have trained its sights on ethereum, in particular. Some of the biggest names in decentralized finance are now fighting back.

In a 40-page filing Tuesday, Uniswap Labs — which builds decentralized finance infrastructure including a popular DeFi crypto exchange that enables users to custody their own coins — detailed to the SEC all the reasons why the agency shouldn't pursue legal action against them. It comes a few weeks after the commission issued Uniswap a Wells notice, warning the company that it identified potential violations of U.S. securities law.

"The SEC's entirecase rests on the false assumption that all tokens are securities. Tokens are in fact, simply a file format for value," said Uniswap's chief legal officer, Marvin Ammori.

"The SEC has to essentially unilaterally change the definitions of exchange, broker and investment contract in order to try to capture what we do,“ Ammori said.

A Wells notice is typically one of the final steps before the SEC formally issues charges. It generally lays out the framework of the regulatory argument and offers the potentially accused an opportunity to rebut the SEC's claims.

So far this year, the federal regulator has sent Wells notices, filed lawsuits, or reached settlements with a host of crypto firms, and the SEC's legal challenges are increasingly focused on ethereum and players working in decentralized finance, including ShapeShift, TradeStation, Uniswap and Consensys. It also comes as the agency is reportedly investigating the Ethereum Foundation.

CNBC reached out to the SEC about