Report: SEC Chair Considers Waiving Some Crypto Regulations
2022.07.16 02:30
- Gary Gensler is considering waiving some crypto regulations.
- Gensler has said repeatedly that most cryptocurrencies are securities, not commodities.
- The SEC is enforcing securities laws to ensure crypto firms comply, but it hasn’t devised new guidelines to safeguard crypto investors.
In a move that caught everyone off guard on Thursday, the chair of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Gary Gensler, said that the agency may use its jurisdiction to exempt cryptocurrency businesses from some securities regulations. This decision is made to assist the crypto sector in becoming compliant.
Gensler has said on many occasions that many crypto tokens are subject to securities rules due to the manner in which they are utilized and that the majority of tokens need to register as securities. Furthermore, any platform that trades in these tokens should register with the appropriate authorities as an exchange.
According to comments made by Gensler to Yahoo Finance, the SEC can draft regulations and make use of exemptive jurisdiction; nevertheless, the public is not protected, mostly due to the noncompliance that exists in this arena.
Even while the SEC has conducted enforcement proceedings to ensure that cryptocurrency businesses comply with securities laws, the Agency has not yet implemented or written new regulations to safeguard investors in cryptocurrency markets.
On why the SEC hasn’t pushed more aggressively to draft regulations to safeguard investors, Gensler responded by saying he did not accept the premise.
He added:
We have rules in place for what it means to be an investment company, like a mutual fund, when you put your money in.
Gensler spoke to the Commission’s enforcement proceedings that were taken against cryptocurrency businesses that violated securities rules, focusing notably on the cryptocurrency company BlockFi.
