US lawmakers have discussed hundreds of millions of dollars worth of airdrops made by cryptocurrency projects.
Republican lawmakers in the United States have called for the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to clarify its stance on crypto airdrops.
House Financial Services Committee Chairman Patrick McHenry and House Majority Captain Tom Emmer wrote in a letter to SEC Chairman Gary Gensler that the agency is increasingly pressuring the crypto industry with regulatory pressure.
“The SEC is creating a hostile regulatory environment through its allegations in various lawsuits about airdrops and warnings of additional enforcement, thereby denying Americans the chance to shape the next phase of the internet,” McHenry and Emmer wrote.
Crypto startups are distributing free tokens to digital asset wallets through airdrops. Lawmakers cited the SEC’s lawsuit against Tron founder Justin Sun over airdrops. In its 2019 guidance titled “Digital Asset Investment Contract Analysis,” the SEC added a footnote stating that airdrops could be considered “the sale or distribution of securities.”
McHenry and Emmer argued that developers were forced to exclude Americans from airdrops because of such regulations:
By blocking Americans from participating in airdrops, the SEC is preventing crypto users from fully realizing the benefits that blockchain technology offers.
Stay tuned for new information.
