Congressman grills SEC over lack of crypto regulations

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The U.S. is falling behind the rest of the world in cryptocurrency regulation. That’s the opinion of Republican Congressman Warren Davidson, a representative from Ohio, who blasted the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) at the first meeting of the House Task Force on Financial Technology on June 25.

As Bitcoin Exchange Guide reported, Davidson was embarrassed by the efforts of the SEC to regulate the crypto space. Their slow and steady approach to the digital currency space was described as “third-world, developing-economy approach,” by the congressman.

He questioned why the SEC has taken so long to impose any type of regulations on the industry, or to issue more guidelines to create clarity. He berated them for not giving cryptocurrency businesses the structure they need to grow, and bemoaned that the U.S. would fall behind other countries who are on the ball.

Valerie Szczepanik, the SEC’s Senior Advisor for Digital Assets, defended the agency, noting that the SEC has been “quite clear” with its stance on digital currencies. She added:

“We’ve put out guidance at least on [initial coin offerings] beginning in 2017 about how we apply the law to the issuance of digital assets. We’ve put out a number of statements since then. So, we believe that the guidance is clear.”

While the crypto space has proven to be a challenge for the SEC, Szczepanik noted, current laws are sufficient for them to interpret and then overlay on current activity.

Davidson has previously put forward legislation that would remove cryptocurrencies from the SEC’s oversight, but it has not gained traction as of yet and seems unlikely to anytime soon. He’s been of the opinion previously that regulation would be burdensome to the industry’s growth, so it would just be better to leave it alone.

With Nancy Pelosi currently sitting as Speaker of the House, Davidson is not much more than a loud voice on the topic, and that might be a good thing. As the proponents of Bitcoin SV (BSV) have noted, Bitcoin needs regulation so that businesses can have more confidence to build for the future. Without regulation, the crypto space has proven that it can be a wild place where criminals prey on the ignorant.

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