US Senator Cynthia Lummis is criticizing the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) for deciding to sue the top US-based crypto exchange Coinbase.
In a new interview with Yahoo Finance, the Republican lawmaker from Wyoming says that the SEC has mishandled the Coinbase situation.
“We know that Coinbase went to the SEC and asked for guidance on how to comply with SEC regulations. And they did not get an adequate response and then were slapped with an enforcement action. To me, that seems like it’s not the right way to do business in America.”
Earlier this month the SEC sued Coinbase alleging the publicly-traded company had operated as an unregistered securities exchange, broker and clearing agency.
Lummis, a Bitcoin (BTC) supporter, also says that Congress will soon discuss an updated version of the bi-partisan bill she introduced in 2022 with Democrat Senator Kirsten Gillibrand of New York to bring regulatory clarity to the digital asset space.
“Yes, you will see an updated version of the Lummis-Gillibrand Responsible Financial Innovation Bill. You’ll see it in about two or three weeks. I was hoping you’d see it before the Fourth of July but [Legislative] Counsel has had to push it onto the back burner in order to address some issues that are very much on the front burner. But you’ll see it soon.
It beefs up the consumer protection components of the bill. We’re trying to address the illicit use of digital assets so there’s enough personnel and authority to address the illicit use. We’re still preserving the Howey Test, but finding what we hope are clear guidelines between what is a commodity and what is a security. We’re adding a self-regulatory organization on top when new technologies come along that can have regulators and industry leaders in the room to help figure out how to shepherd them through a regulatory process.”
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