SEC Chairman Calls on Congress to Help Harness Crypto’s ‘Wild West’

[ad_1]

The chairman of the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on Tuesday called on Congress to give the agency more authority to better control cryptocurrency trading, lending and platforms, a “Wild West “, he said, riddled with fraud and risk for investors. Reuters Reports: Gary Gensler said the crypto market involves many tokens which may be unregistered securities and leaves prices open to manipulation and millions of investors vulnerable to risk. “This asset class is rife with frauds, scams and abuse in certain applications,” Gensler told a global conference. “We need additional congressional authorities to prevent transactions, products and platforms from falling between regulatory loopholes.”

The industry has been eagerly awaiting how Gensler, an appointed Democrat who took over as head of the SEC in April, will approach market surveillance, which he says should be incorporated into mainstream financial regulation. Gensler gave more information on his thinking on Tuesday, saying he would like Congress to give the SEC the power to oversee cryptocurrency exchanges, which currently fall outside the SEC’s jurisdiction. He also called on lawmakers to give the SEC more power to oversee crypto lending and platforms such as decentralized peer-to-peer (DeFi) funding sites that allow lenders and borrowers to make transactions. cryptocurrency transactions without traditional banks. “If we don’t fix these issues, I’m afraid a lot of people will be hurt.”

[ad_2]