Congressmen McHenry, Thompson Call SEC Chair Gensler’s Remarks on Crypto ‘Concerning’

The two congressmen wrote that rather than potentially regulating innovation and job creation out of the U.S., lawmakers and regulators should “promote an active dialogue between regulators and market participants.”

By Nelson Wang

Aug 16, 2021 at 6:58 p.m. UTC

Updated Sep 14, 2021 at 1:40 p.m. UTC

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Reps. Patrick McHenry (R-N.C.) and Glenn Thompson (R-Pa.) said Securities and Exchange Commission Chair Gary Gensler’s recent comments on increasing crypto regulation, and a letter Gensler sent Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) that the SEC needs more authority to regulate cryptocurrency, provide a “concerning roadmap for regulatory actions that will have long-term implications.”

In an open letter to Gensler and acting Commodity Futures Trading Commission Chairman Rostin Behnam, the congressmen said that “rather than regulate innovation and job creation out of this country, we should promote an active dialogue between regulators and market participants.” The two noted that this is the goal of H.R. 1602, the Eliminate Barriers to Innovation Act of 2021, which passed the U.S. House of Representatives in April.
The 2021 act requires the SEC and the CFTC to establish a joint Working Group on Digital Assets with market participants, organizations involved in academic research and investor protection organizations, among others.
The two said that lawmakers and regulators should work together to balance protecting innovation with any new regulations to “ensure the digital asset marketplace flourishes in the United States.”
They called on Gensler, Behnam and their fellow commissioners to provide details on how the SEC and CFTC plan to work together on these issues.

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