The latest regulatory agenda shows that the SEC will be busy in the upcoming months, but it won’t be working on the right things, says Hester Peirce (aka Crypto Mom).
Crypto Mom’s Stance on SEC’s Agenda
Hester Peirce, a United States Securities and Exchange Commission commissioner dubbed Crypto Mom by many in the field, is pushing back against the regulatory body’s agenda for failing to provide clarification on digital assets.
In a joint statement released Monday, Peirce and SEC Commissioner Elad Roisman expressed disappointment with the regulatory agenda proposed by chairperson Gary Gensler for failing to include items aimed at assisting businesses in raising capital, enhancing investor protection, undoing recent commission rules, and providing clarity on cryptocurrency.
According to the two regulators, Gensler’s ambiguous position on digital assets may pose difficulties for firms wishing to enter the field.
“Rather than tackling the difficult task of establishing rules allowing investors and regulated entities to interact with digital assets, including digital asset securities, the Agenda’s silence on crypto signals to the market that continued uncertainty about how our securities laws apply to this area of growing investor interest,” Peirce and Roisman wrote. “Such silence empowers fraudsters and impedes law-abiding participants.”
The latest regulatory agenda shows that the SEC will be busy in the upcoming months, but it won’t be working on the right things: https://t.co/QPQGKN91gL
— Hester Peirce (@HesterPeirce) December 13, 2021
The pair stated that the proposed regulatory framework is postponing revisions pertaining to audit trails of information around trades — presumably including cryptocurrency — and the parties involved. According to Peirce and Roisman, delaying action on these safeguards “exposes investors’ data.”
Gensler, who has served as SEC chairman since April, has made repeated public pronouncements recommending cryptocurrency companies to “come in and talk” about any concerns about token projects that may qualify as securities.
The SEC, as the primary supervisor of financial goods in the United States, has been accused of hindering the establishment of exchange-traded funds, or ETFs, tied to cryptocurrencies. Though the government recently approved ETFs with exposure to BTC futures from investment managers ProShares and Valkyrie, it has yet to approve further crypto ETFs.
