SEC Official Claims that a Strategy Change Was Needed: Details
- SEC enforcement director, Gurbir Grewal, stated that the agency had to “change strategies” to regulate crypto.
- He said that placing rules for crypto firms to follow was not fruitful, as the industry is built around noncompliance.
- “Typically, you’d also see compliance, but we’re not seeing that in this space, so we had to change strategies,” he noted.
The United States Securities and Exchange Commission has recently changed its tactics when it comes to regulation of the digital asset industry, which has resulted in many firms taking their business out of the leading economy in the world. However, as per SEC enforcement director, Gurbir Grewal, the agency “had to change strategies” because the entire crypto industry was “built around noncompliance.”
The enforcement tactics followed by the SEC have been criticized by US lawmakers as well as the crypto community and entrepreneurs. As per a report published by Reuters on June 16, Gurbir spoke at a Rutgers University and Lowenstein Sandler LLP event in New York, adding that his agency has “worked thoughtfully and incrementally in this space.”
Gurbir noted that “typically you’d also see compliance, but we’re not seeing that in this space, so we had to change strategies,” while adding that “even if you came up with a bespoke rule set, you have an entire industry where the ethos is built around noncompliance.” The SEC enforcement director referred to the calls of crypto exchange Coinbase to establish policies for exchanges to follow.
The SEC sued the world’s largest crypto exchanges, Binance and Coinbase, for operating as unregistered exchanges and broker-dealers. The US arm of Binance, Binance.US, is facing investigation as well, along with the founder of the crypto exchange, Changpeng Zhao. On the other hand, Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong is not facing any investigation.
Additionally, the SEC and Binance.US have been ordered by US District Judge Amy Jackson to negotiate a deal and have been referred to a magistrate judge for the same.
It is crucial to note that, as per a June 12 announcement, United States Rep. Warren Davidson has introduced the “SEC Stabilization Act” into the House of Representatives. The bill aims to fire SEC Chair Gary Gensler.
“U.S. capital markets must be protected from a tyrannical Chairman, including the current one. That’s why I’m introducing legislation to fix the ongoing abuse of power and ensure protection that is in the best interest of the market for years to come. It’s time for real reform and to fire Gary Gensler as Chair of the SEC.”
A crypto journalist with over 3 years of experience in DeFi, NFT, metaverse, etc. Parth has worked with major media outlets in the crypto and finance world and has gained experience and expertise in crypto culture after surviving bear and bull markets over the years.
