SEC’s Potential U-Turn On Crypto Bill Sparks New Debate

The debate on how to go about regulating the crypto market has been long around. The SEC has been firm on bringing the industry under its securities law.  SEC chair Gary Gensler recently said a majority of the coin offerings come under the securities law.

A latest comment by Gensler sparked a new debate around whether crypto tokens are securities or commodities. In a virtual conference hosted by the Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights Compass, he made interesting comments.

Warning On Investor Protection

Gensler repeated his previous warnings over investor protection in the crypto space. He said the regulatory body would use the existing framework to focus on crypto projects. Some crypto projects offering returns could be ‘too good to be true’, he warned investors.

The SEC chair said,

“There are a small number of tokens that (his) predecessors talked about that may not meet the test that they are commodities. They may even have large percentage (share) of the crypto market.”

However, he said the bulk of the tokens currently in the crypto market have attributes of securities. In the mean time, SEC crypto enforcement will focus on using the existing authority, he explained.

’20th Century Regulations For 21st Century Technology’

Meanwhile, Senator Cynthia Lummis, who is behind the recently unveiled the crypto bill, said it is time for an upgrade to the regulations. On Tuesday, she tweeted,

“More than 34 million Americans report owning some form of digital assets. We are regulating this 21st century technology with 20th century regulations. It’s time for an upgrade, and the Lummis-Gillibrand plan accomplishes that.”

Replying to this, Digital Asset Investor, a crypto enthusiast, said Gensler was trying to use 20th Century regulations to control most of the digital asset space. He wondered what he was missing as the bill also was supporting SEC crypto authority.

The bill, which laid out the groundwork for comprehensive crypto regulation, called for setting up a crypto advisory committee to help guide regulators.

Anvesh reports major announcements around crypto adoption by institutions and popular personalities. Having been associated with the cryptocurrency industry since 2016, Anvesh is a strong advocate of decentralized technologies. Follow Anvesh on Twitter at @AnveshReddyBTC and reach out at anvesh (at) coingape.com

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