House Subcommittee Saw Heated Debate Over the SEC's Crypto Approach
In the hearing last week before the House subcommittee, Republican lawmakers blamed the SEC and its chair, Gary Gensler, for politicizing the regulation of digital assets.
During the heated hearing, "Dazed and Confused: Breaking Down the SEC's Politicized Approach to Digital Assets," there were sharp exchanges between Republican and Democratic representatives over the future of cryptocurrency regulation in the United States.
French Hill, Representative of Arkansas and Chairman of the House Subcommittee on Digital Assets, Financial Technology, and Inclusion, spearheaded the attack on the SEC, suggesting that Chairman Gensler's way forward has only brought "confusion and uncertainty" to the markets. He offered other regulatory ways forward, such as the proposed FIT21 Act, working its way through Congress.
"We're against SEC enforcement abuse and making it hard for legitimate actors who are trying to follow the rules to do a fine job and bring innovation and technology to our markets," said Hill.
The subcommittee's ranking Democrat, Representative Stephen Lynch, countered that the politicization of the SEC is misplaced. He pointed out that the crypto industry itself spent millions in support or opposition to candidates for the 2024 congressional elections. "If anyone is playing politics, it is the crypto industry," he declared.
Lynch also pointed to concerns about digital-asset use in illicit activity: "While most of the digital asset space has collapsed, it's well known what remains is used to facilitate illicit finance or illegal activity."