US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) commissioner Hester Peirce has launched a new salvo against the watchdog.
In a statement on Wednesday, Peirce defied a proposal pitched by SEC chair Gary Gensler on how to regulate cryptocurrency custody in the US.
Peirce is not the first insider to have doubted the regulator and whether it was going too far.
Her comments come as former SEC chief counsel TuongVy Le criticized how the watchdog has handled the Kraken case, and the looming issues with stablecoin issuer Paxos.
Peirce’s concerns were pragmatic, as she questioned the timing of the proposal and stressed that the regulator may lack the jurisdiction over the cryptocurrency industry to make such calls.
We @SECGov just proposed to expand & enhance the role of qualified custodians when registered investment advisers custody assets on behalf of investors.
Thru our rule, investors would get the time-tested protections—and qualified custodians—they deserve.
What does this mean? ⬇️ pic.twitter.com/RerUGnpArI
— Gary Gensler (@GaryGensler) February 15, 2023
She also questioned whether the proposal can be worked into a law at the present time.
What Peirce did know was that the proposal would have broad implications for the entire ecosystem, including investors, custodians, and other parties involved.
For any change of this scale to be carried out effectively, she explained, SEC would need a lot of “thoughtful input of commenters”, which means the crypto industry weighing in as well.
“This rule will require a lot of work, and a year seems too short to accomplish all of it”, she cautioned.
Another very serious threat was that investors may start fleeing legitimate entities – that have worked very hard to provide consumers with workable safeguards that protect them from fraud, and meet anti-money-laundering requirements.
Peirce stated flatly that SEC is trying to set rules for parts of the crypto system that it simply has no authority to regulate. These aggressive positions endanger the industry and put consumers at risk, she cautioned.
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