SEC hints that crypto regulation not a priority
2 min readTL;DR Breakdown
- SEC silent on crypto regulation in regulatory agenda
- Gensler’s previous stance on crypto regulation
The Security and Exchange Commission (SEC) has left out BTC and crypto regulation in the list of its regulatory agenda for the spring which they released recently.
This is in the wake of comments made by the chairman of the regulatory body Gary Gensler where he said that retail investors would benefit if exchange firms are regulated. He also said the agency should be ready for the enforcement of crypto cases.
However, in the new agenda the regulators published, they noted that priority would be giving to crafting and finalizing rules for special purpose acquisition companies, better known as SPACs; short sale disclosures; money market reforms; gamification of trading platforms like Robinhood; and a host of other issues.
The agenda of the agency is divided into three phases, prerule, proposed rule, and final rule.
Gary Gensler’s previous stance on crypto regulation
The chairman while speaking at a hearing of the Financial Services and General Government subcommittee of the House of Representatives, was of the opinion that regulators need to protect crypto investors through their activities.
He highlighted that beyond BTC, over 80 other crypto exists with over a billion-dollar market cap. He said new data analytics would help them monitor well. However, their resources would be stretched.
He noted that the crypto market has to be regulated primarily owing to its highly volatile and speculative nature. Gensler said trade volumes in the market ranged between $130 billion and $330 billion a day but that the figures are unreliable because they’re unaudited and reflect trading on unregistered crypto exchanges.
Gensler also promised that the regulator would cooperate with other regulators to perform oversight functions on crypto exchange firms effectively.
However, none of his claims reflects in the agenda released by the regulators.
Gabriel Shapiro a lawyer, however, told Decrypt that the gamification part of the agenda could affect digital assets sayung that if a deeper look is taken at the agenda.
“I could imagine the gamification thing touching on digital assets (Robinhood effect),” he said.
