A group of crypto pioneers has laid out concerns about the regulation of cryptocurrencies to the US Securities and Exchanges Commission (SEC), outlining caution that further regulations passed could be detrimental to the industry as a whole.
The news of this letter to the SEC follows another written last week by the US Congress in which they asked for more clarity on cryptocurrency security. Congress also said that they believed that cryptocurrency important for many sectors of the US economy and that the SEC’s view that all cryptos are securities, besides Bitcoin and Ethereum, is leading to an exodus of crypto and blockchain companies and talent from the United States.
This latest letter from the industry itself against intrusive regulation is sure to put added pressure on the SEC to find a solution which is suitable to all. A major warning to the SEC was about the very nature of cryptocurrency which is that it was designed to be held by a third party, rather the individual, and any future regulation would need to keep this in mind.
The letter was a crypto who’s who cosignatory document including dotcom veteran Christopher Allen, Bitcoin core developer Bryan Bishop, financial expert Angus Champion de Crespigny, blockchain attorney Gavin Fearey and Caitlin Long, most recently Morgan Stanley’s managing director.
The letter explained that cryptocurrencies shouldn’t be type-cast due to their unique qualities and as such warned that “fitting them into existing market infrastructure introduces risks to investors that would not otherwise exist”.T he letter also warned against “applying rules to digital assets in ways which do not reflect their strengths”.
Earlier in June, SEC Chairman Jay Clayton clarified that the regulators had no intention of changing their traditional regulatory approach. He said:
“We are not going to do any violence to the traditional definition of a security that has worked for a long time. We’ve been doing this a long time. There’s no need to change the definition.”
Clayton was referencing a Supreme Court ruling from 1946 which defines a security as an investment of money in a common enterprise, in which the investor expects profits from others’ efforts. Those in the crypto industry have always maintained that cryptocurrencies, tokens, and ICOs, as assets rather than securities, need further legal definition.
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