UK and Canada Reportedly Planning Stringent Crypto Rules Amid SEC Fiasco

• The industry and the SEC have been at odds over how to regulate cryptocurrencies.
• Gary Gensler and the SEC actively campaigned successfully in Canada and the UK.

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) seems stubborn to make it more difficult for cryptocurrency firms to operate in the United States and beyond. It’s no secret that SEC chair Gary Gensler isn’t a fan of the cryptocurrency market. Under his watch, the agency has taken a number of harsh enforcement actions against crypto companies operating in the United States.

Gensler has recently made headlines for declaring that all cryptocurrencies are securities with the exception of Bitcoin. The industry and the SEC have been at odds over how to regulate cryptocurrencies, and this is at the heart of the dispute.

New Restrictions Expected

Recently, it has been reported that Gensler has pushed hard his British and Canadian counterparts to create an environment similar to the United States’ for crypto businesses. The UK’s regulatory authorities are rumored to be finalizing plans to announce new restrictions on cryptocurrencies in the coming weeks, suggesting that these discussions were fruitful.

Fox Business reporter Eleanor Terrett claims that Gary Gensler and the SEC actively campaigned successfully in Canada and the UK for stricter crypto regulations.

As Eleanor put it:

“Gary Gensler (and the SEC) have been lobbying their UK and Canadian counterparts to pinch the crypto industry in the same way as the U.S. The FCA is preparing an announcement about tightening restrictions in the coming weeks, while Canada has already announced sweeping crackdowns against the industry.”

In the same week that this announcement was made, the SEC issued a Well notice to Coinbase, the largest cryptocurrency exchange in the United States, expressing concerns about the listed digital assets and the firm’s staking services.