SEC Accused of Creating Confusion and Uncertainty in Crypto Industry

SEC Cracks Down on Crypto, Sending Prices Tumbling

US lawmaker Tom Emmer accuses SEC of creating confusion over crypto regulations, challenges Chair Gensler’s motives

Tom Emmer criticized the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) for its lack of clarity on cryptocurrency regulation and questioned the personal agenda of its chair, Gary Gensler. Representative Ted Budd, a member of the House Financial Services Committee and the Congressional Blockchain Caucus, said the SEC was “deliberately obfuscating” the rules for crypto-related businesses and investors.

In a speech on the House floor on Tuesday, Budd said he was “deeply troubled” by Gensler’s recent testimony before the Senate Banking Committee, where he suggested that most crypto assets were securities and should be regulated by the SEC. Budd argued that this approach would stifle innovation and harm American competitiveness in the global market.

He also challenged Gensler’s claim that the SEC had been “quite clear” on what constitutes a security, citing the ongoing lawsuit against Ripple Labs, the company behind the XRP token. He said the SEC had failed to provide clear guidance on why XRP was considered a security, while other similar tokens, such as Bitcoin and Ethereum, were not.

Budd also questioned Gensler’s motives for pursuing such a broad and aggressive regulation of the crypto industry, implying that he had a personal agenda that was not aligned with the public interest. He said:

“Mr. Speaker, I have to ask: why is Chair Gensler doing this? Why is he in such a hurry to regulate an industry that is already following existing rules? Is it because he wants to protect investors? Or is it because he wants to make a name for himself by taming a new technology that he doesn’t understand?”

Budd urged his colleagues to support the Eliminate Barriers to Innovation Act, a bipartisan bill that would create a working group to clarify the roles and responsibilities of different regulators in overseeing the crypto space. He said this would provide much-needed certainty and transparency for both businesses and consumers.

He concluded his speech by saying:

“Mr. Speaker, America is a nation of innovation. We have always been at the forefront of new technologies and new industries. We cannot let our regulators hold us back from this opportunity. We need clear rules of the road, not confusing and conflicting guidance. We need regulators who work with us, not against us. And we need a SEC chair who respects the will of Congress and the American people, not his own personal agenda.”

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