Regulatory Concerns and Opposition
Senator Cynthia Lummis (R-Wyo.) has expressed her opposition to the ongoing crackdown on the cryptocurrency industry by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). In an interview with Yahoo Finance, she criticized the regulatory agency’s actions and vowed to block one of its controversial new crypto policies. According to Lummis, “I think the SEC is overreaching.”
The SEC has taken aggressive measures in recent times, including lawsuits against major players like Coinbase and Binance. Lummis specifically highlighted the SEC’s policy issued in March 2022, known as “Staff Accounting Bulletin 121,” as a cause for concern. This policy requires financial firms to include customers’ crypto assets on their balance sheets and also warns investors about the risks involved in safeguarding those assets.
However, a recent statement from the Government Accountability Office (GAO) questions whether the SEC should have sought congressional approval for this policy guidance. Senator Lummis is determined to prevent this policy from becoming binding, considering it an example of the SEC’s overreach. She plans to gather support for her efforts in the Senate and the House within the next few weeks, highlighting the potential harm the bulletin could cause to consumers if a digital asset custodian were to collapse.
