Lawmakers push back against SEC approach to cryptocurrency regulation

Rather than stifling innovation and curbing incentives to create jobs overseas, regulators and lawmakers should support dialogue with participants in the digital assets industry. With such a call, spoke out.

They characterised the latest comments by the chairman of the SEC Gary Gensler as ‘concerning’. Representatives from the Republican side warned that his proposal to grant the agency additional powers could have ‘long-term consequences’.

The authors of the open letter to Gensler and acting CFTC chair Rostin Behnam said that their initiative aligns with Законопроектом об устранении барьеров для инноваций. The House of Representatives approved it in April 2021.

The document requires the SEC and the CFTC within 90 days to establish a joint working group on digital assets with market participants, organisations in the field of academic research, and investor-protection organisations.

In their view, only this would strike a balance between regulation and innovation for the ‘prosperity of the U.S. digital asset market’.

McHenry and Thompson urged regulators to provide a detailed implementation plan for the initiative.

Earlier, U.S. Representative Anna Eshoo urged Speaker Nancy Pelosi to amend provisions taxing cryptocurrencies in the infrastructure bill in an open letter.

The bill earlier went to the House of Representatives with industry-unfriendly language. The definition of ‘broker’ mentioned therein covers not only exchanges or marketplaces for digital assets, but also miners, validators and wallet developers.

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