Messari CEO Declares Battle Against ‘Corrupt’ SEC

In the coming months, Messari will “initiate a war against the illegitimate and corrupt” SEC. This was announced by the company’s founder and CEO, Ryan Selkis.

GM.

I’ve declared independence from the SEC and its corrupt Chair Gary Gensler.

In the months ahead, Messari will be operationalizing a war against this illegitimate and corrupt agency.

The draft below will be polished, improved, then sent to the SEC and Congress.

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— Ryan Selkis (d/acc) ?? (@twobitidiot) July 7, 2024

The top executive presented a draft of Messari’s “declaration of independence” from the agency. He promised to refine the document and subsequently send it to the SEC and the U.S. Congress.

The issue concerns doubts about the agency’s legitimacy regarding decisions on providing information for digital asset markets.

In the declaration, Selkis rejected the SEC’s status as a respectable federal body and labeled the Commission’s head, Gary Gensler, as a “corrupt, counterproductive, and helpless official,” whose usefulness is questionable amid the integration of modern technologies.

According to the Messari CEO, the agency’s chairman benefits himself and the agency’s employees rather than citizens, markets, and organizations.

For these reasons, Selkis stated that his company would cease cooperation with the Commission until it is disbanded or its leadership changes. The SEC is viewed as a hostile competitor or an “unnecessary” regulator, he added.

Messari plans to compete with the agency by providing higher quality, faster, and cheaper information reporting for cryptocurrency markets — without taxpayer expense.

The company is convinced of the popularization of public blockchains and the significant changes in disclosure norms for investors that accompany it.

Under these conditions, such private sector services will surpass the federal government in quality without any budgetary expenses, Selkis added.

Messari’s strategy involves conveying the following basic facts to investors through courts, Congress, and the media:

1. The SEC’s approach to digital assets is ineffective. It failed to detect alleged frauds by FTX, Celsius, Genesis Capital, and others.
2. Lawsuits against legitimate entities like Coinbase, Kraken, and Gemini “reek” more of political persecution.
3. Gensler is not only incompetent but also corrupt. His actions have a stifling effect on the development of the U.S. industry. His growing legal losses undermine faith in the SEC’s integrity, and evidence of alleged corruption and misconduct by the chairman — trust in his ability to set the agency’s priorities.
4. The Commission has no legitimate claims to oversee cryptocurrency markets following two Supreme Court decisions that weakened the agency’s internal administrative courts. Questions remain about the SEC’s legal mandate to regulate digital asset markets as a whole under the major questions doctrine.
5. Maintaining the current status quo will lead to the country losing its leadership in cryptocurrency, and certain sectors of the American economy and the U.S. dollar will face the threat of weakened positions.
6. Messari already offers the market a global service without taxpayer expense. The research team has uncovered financial difficulties and/or fraud in several major companies, including Mt.Gox, FTX, Genesis Capital.

Selkis noted that the company has over six years of experience, with $60 million directed towards development and research.

In conclusion, the top executive expressed confidence in the need to dismantle the “political aristocracy.” He emphasized that Messari is ready to fight against the “anti-cryptocurrency” army of [Senate Banking Committee member Elizabeth] Warren, although he considers the war unnecessary and counterproductive.

Back in August 2023, Selkis stated that the industry has no future in the U.S. if Joe Biden is re-elected for a second presidential term.