This Week's Progress Towards SEC Regulation

Congressmen and the cryptocurrency market's leading players urge the SEC to hurry-up and introduce a regulatory framework, whilst a number of crypto-friendly statements are made during a subcommittee hearing.

The SEC is beginning to feel the heat from US congressmen and leaders in the cryptocurrency industry to end the delay and uncertainty over the introduction of a regulatory framework.

Congressman, Tom Emmer, Republican-Minnesota, recently urged the SEC put cryptocurrency regulations in place;

This statement came at a hearing on Capitol Hill, hosted by Warren Davidson, Republican-Ohio, on September 25th, which received cross-party support and was attended by leading players in the crypto industry, such as Coinbase, Kraken, Nasdaq, Circle, Fidelity, State Street and others, many of whom recently formed a lobbying group with the following stated aim;

The SEC Chairman, Jay Clayton, has previously declared the SEC’s stance on cryptocurrency regulation as such;

But, now the role that congress will play in the formation of regulations is recognized by the industry and another congressional representative at the discussion, Darren Soto, Democrat-Florida, also added to congressman Emmer’s concerns regarding the SEC’s application of the “Howey Test” to cryptocurrencies and he believed a new regulatory framework for the cryptocurrency market was required;

At this meeting, industry leaders conveyed the need for the US lawmakers to recognize the importance of preventing blockchain innovation and capital flight from the US by establishing a flourishing, cryptocurrency-friendly environment that would make the US competitive in the global FinTech race. The SEC should look to the enlightened approach of the Clinton administration’s regulations of the internet, otherwise the advantage would pivot to Asia.

The reality of the SEC’s procrastination and the US lagging behind in the global FinTech race was confirmed by Ripple’s Director of Regulatory Relations, Ryan Zagone;

All this preceded a subcommittee hearing on Financial Institutions and Consumer Credit “Examining Opportunities for Financial Markets in the Digital Era”, which took place on Thursday 28th September, the video for which is provided below.

There were a number of positive statements made during this hearing, that recognized the need for a regulatory sandbox in which firms could innovate without fear of regulatory penalty and the beneficial outcomes of such, that partnerships between banks and FinTech would have positive financial outcomes, whilst being safer and more inclusive. Regulations should also be light enough to enable the FinTech market to prosper.

https://www.cnbc.com/2018/09/26/crypto-leaders-to-congress-figure-out-regulation-or-innovation-leaves.html
https://bitsonline.com/cryptocurrency-heavyweights-lobbying-group/
https://dailyhodl.com/2018/09/26/crypto-advocates-from-coinbase-ripple-consensys-blockchain-fidelity-nasdaq-urge-congress-to-act-now/