EddieJayonCrypto
9 May 24
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is intensifying its crackdown on the crypto industry, with Robinhood Crypto and other companies receiving notice of impending enforcement action. SEC Chair Gary Gensler attributes this focus on crypto to the prevalence of scams and fraud in the marke...
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is intensifying its crackdown on the crypto industry, with Robinhood Crypto and other companies receiving notice of impending enforcement action. SEC Chair Gary Gensler attributes this focus on crypto to the prevalence of scams and fraud in the market. He believes that most cryptocurrencies should be considered securities and criticizes the lack of investor disclosures in the crypto space. Gensler also addressed the recent lawsuit from Ethereum software firm Consensys, which seeks a court declaration that ETH is not a security. Despite speculation, he did not comment on whether the SEC sees Ethereum as a security or a commodity. Gary Gensler, the SEC Chair, wouldn’t get into details on the Robinhood case or others when appearing on CNBC’s “Squawk Box” Tuesday morning but he did field questions from host Aaron Ross Sorkin about why the firm appears so fixated on crypto right now. In Gensler’s view, it has something to do with the financial media and crypto journalists. But it’s also because the crypto market has an “outsized” share of financial scams and fraud, in his view. Gensler repeatedly bristled at the idea of Sorkin even wanting to ask crypto-related questions. When Sorkin asked if the amount of attention paid to the SEC’s crypto enforcement was “a function also of the fact that that's where your attention is,” Gensler pushed back. Gensler also wouldn’t comment on the recent lawsuit from Ethereum software firm Consensys, which filed a preemptive suit against the agency after it served the firm a Wells Notice over its MetaMask crypto wallet. A Wells notice is a letter the SEC sends when it intends to bring an enforcement action against a business or individual; it means a lawsuit against Consensys is likely on the way. But Genlser likewise wouldn’t comment on whether the SEC sees Ethereum as a security or a commodity. Broadly, however, Gensler reaffirmed that he believes that most cryptocurrencies should be considered securities. And he added that he doesn’t believe that investors have the appropriate disclosures for investing in such assets.
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