SEC Over Regulatory Failing:
Senator Tom Emmer, a Republican, has long criticised Gary Gensler and the SEC’s approach to overseeing cryptocurrencies.
Gary Gensler, chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), has come under fire from Minnesota Senator Tom Emmer for his failed “crypto information-gathering operations” and for not appearing before Congress to account for the cost of his “regulatory failings.”
Emmer referred in a tweet he sent to his 67,500 Twitter followers on December 10 to a letter from the bipartisan Blockchain Caucus that was sent to the SEC Chairman on March 16.
We now know Gensler's crypto information-gathering efforts were ineffective.
— Tom Emmer (@RepTomEmmer) December 9, 2022
Emmer cited the failures of the Terra ecosystem and the insolvent cryptocurrency platforms Celsius, Voyager, and FTX in saying that “we now know Gensler’s crypto information-gathering efforts were unsuccessful.”
The Senator said, “[Gensler] must testify before Congress and respond to inquiries regarding the cost of his regulatory failings.”
According to Emmer, Gensler has not appeared before the House Committee on Financial Services since October 5, 2021, he noted, leaving crypto media to fill the gap left by the SEC’s shortcomings in its investigation.
Haphazard efforts:
The March Blockchain Caucus letter’s authors claimed that the SEC’s efforts to obtain information from cryptocurrency companies were “haphazard and unfocused” rather than “targeted, planned, or clear.”
Emmer asserted that Gensler’s response, given two months later, dodged critical inquiries regarding the procedures and methods the SEC will use to supervise the digital asset business.
Gensler chose, instead, to describe to Congress the functions of the SEC’s Enforcement and Examination Divisions, according to Emmer.
Emmer has already voiced disapproval of the banking watchdog’s approach to overseeing cryptocurrency.
He said on November 26 that “Congress shouldn’t have to learn the specifics about the SEC’s oversight agenda through planted pieces in progressive magazines.”
On November 23, a few days earlier, Emmer tweeted that Gary Gensler’s lack of initiative was a factor in the disastrous collapse of FTX that took place in early November.
FTX's collapse is not a crypto failure. It's a failure with CeFi, @GaryGensler, and Sam Bankman-Fried. Decentralization is the point. Watch below for more thoughts 👇 pic.twitter.com/VYacafc0ZD
— Tom Emmer (@RepTomEmmer) November 22, 2022
Most notably, in the continuing Ripple case with its XRP (XRP) currency, much of Gensler and the SEC’s efforts over the last years have been concentrated on assessing whether cryptocurrencies fall inside the parameters of the Howey test and, therefore, are subject to U.S. securities laws.
Conclusion:
Emmer has long supported cryptocurrencies as a form of money, even as far back as 2020, and believes that the U.S. government should make innovation in the crypto sector easier.
