The United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) held its first-ever crypto roundtable with industry leaders in a face-to-face talk. The meeting, which featured several prominent names, was to figure out how securities law applies to digital assets.
The meeting, which took place on Friday, featured names like John Reed Stark, Miles Jennings, Troy Paredes, and others. The charge to shape crypto regulation and guidance was led by Republican commissioner Hester Peirce. “Spring signifies new beginnings and we have a new beginning here, a restart of the commission’s approach to crypto regulation.” Peirce said to kickstart the meeting.
Trump wants to scrap SEC crackdown
United States President Donald Trump has made no secret of his intention to scrap the enforcement method that the SEC adopted under the Biden administration. His administration has been killing off lawsuits filed by the agency under the Biden administration, with some high-profile ones like Coinbase and Kraken as examples. Most of the cases are now either paused or tossed out completely.
In addition, Trump has also been making moves in the sector, with the executive order he signed this month seeing to the setting up of a strategic crypto reserve. He also held a summit at the White House where he invited leaders in the crypto industry. However, while all these are happening, the industry continues to operate without knowing what counts as security.
According to sources, the sec task force has been at a loss on how to regulate crypto, with some asking if it can fall under the regulation of stocks while others are asking if a new regulatory framework needs to be built for the assets. In the meeting, Democratic commissioner Caroline Crenshaw mentioned that loosening the rule for crypto could backfire. “Modifying the law to facilitate the success of a chosen product category is fraught with risk,” she said.
John Reed Stark slams reform efforts
Meanwhile, former Director of the Office of Enforcement, John Reed Stark, has slammed the idea of making new laws for cryptocurrencies. He mentioned that the SEC does not need to change anything as crypto are securities and should fall under the Securities Act of 1933 and 1934. The people buying crypto are not collectors. We all know that they are investors, and the mission of the SEC is to protect investors,” Stark said.
He also slammed companies trying to drag out legal cases and the ones trying to dodge the rules. “They went for this sort of delay, delay, delay idea,” he said. “They hired the best law firms in the world… and they lost just about, I would argue, every single time.”
The way forward was not the only issue that was to be discussed at the event, as the SEC announced that it had officially dropped its lawsuit against Ripple. The move was initially announced by CEO Brad Garlinghouse on Wednesday, sending XRP surging for a while before it cooled. Meanwhile, crypto markets stayed red overall. As of noon Friday, Bitcoin was down over 1%, floating around $83,000. Ether dropped 1% to just under $2,000, and XRP lost almost 3%. Bitcoin is now on its fourth straight red week, and Ether just barely avoided a fifth.