- A ranking House Democratic member has questioned the SEC Chair about why crypto cases have been dropped.
- Democrats have in the past upheld crypto regulations via enforcement, which changed under President Donald Trump.
- The bipartisan debate on crypto regulations has heated up leading to the Clarity Act delay.
The heated crypto regulation debate has pushed the House Democrats to engage the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). Following the delay of the Clarity Act’s markup reading at the Senate earlier this week, a ranking House Democrat member, Maxine Waters, has now engaged the SEC Chairman Paul Atkins through a formal letter over the dismissal of praiseworthy litigated crypto cases.
Democratic House Member Engages SEC on Crypto Regulation
On Thursday, January 15, 2026, House ranking member Maxine questioned Chair Atkins why the agency abandoned legal cases involving several crypto firms since President Trump took office in early 2025. According to the letter, Maxine and the wider Democratic Party are deeply concerned about the SEC’s actions to pause crypto cases that it previously had gained grounds through court rulings.
The letter highlighted that the SEC’s rollback on crypto cases – led by Coinbase, Binance, Kraken, and Ripple Labs – has increased the ongoing political clash over crypto regulations. Maxine has led the Democrats in hitting President Trump for engaging with Tron Founder Justin Sun.
Notably, Sun is a top investor of the Trump family-backed World Liberty Financial ($WLFI), despite a prior fraud case against the TRX founder. The SEC is expected to answer the Congresswoman amid rising demand for crypto regulations in the United States.
“The SEC’s request to stay the Sun case, which has now been in place for 11 months, signals to the market that securities laws are enforced selectively, and that those with sufficient political influence can evade accountability,” She stated.
Moreover, Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg believes that clear crypto regulations are key to enhancing public safety.
Related: Coinbase Pulls Support Of CLARITY Act, Citing Restrictions
What’s Next for Clarity Act
The hallmark of the political clash in the United States over crypto regulations was experienced earlier this week, after the Clarity Act markup vote was delayed temporarily. According to Senator Tim Scott, chair of the Senate Banking Committee, serious bipartisan good faith is needed to pass the Clarity Act to strengthen the U.S. as the global crypto capital.
“I’ve spoken with leaders across the crypto industry, the financial sector, and my Democratic and Republican colleagues, and everyone remains at the table working in good faith,” Scott stated.
As Coin Edition reported, the crypto industry has won more than 52 million U.S. voters, thus obtaining its voice in the upcoming 2026 midterm elections.
As such, Coinbase Global Inc. (NASDAQ: COIN) has led the crypto community in urging traditional financial institutions to build competitive web3 products. The core debate is how much retail earn from their money, with web3 protocols offering over 3% in stablecoin deposits while banks offer less than 50 bps for cash deposits.
Related: New York Attorney Calls for Crypto Regulation to Enhance Public Safety
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