US Rep. Criticizes Gensler’s Approach With Amendment Limiting SEC Crypto Action

• U.S. Republican Tom Emmer stated that Gary Gensler is “ineffective and incompetent” in regulating crypto.
• Emmer passed an amendment to limit the SEC’s enforcement actions against digital assets until Congress establishes clear legislation.
• The amendment prohibits the SEC from using funds for enforcement activities related to crypto transactions until regulatory jurisdiction is clarified.

U.S. Republican House Majority Whip Tom Emmer stated that U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Chair Gary Gensler is “as ineffective as he is incompetent.” The Republican shared that his nonpartisan appropriations amendment, which aims to reign in SEC enforcement abuses against the digital asset industry, has passed the House with no opposition. 

Rep. Emmer claimed that regulation by enforcement is Gensler’s approach towards the digital asset community, and his amendment seeks to put an end to Gensler’s “pattern of regulatory abuse.”

Furthermore, until Congress passes legislation giving the SEC jurisdiction, the amendment would prohibit the SEC from using funds for enforcement activities related to digital asset transactions. 

Rep. Emmer mentioned how the SEC pursued several enforcement actions against digital assets without ever finalizing a regulation for the industry. The Republican stated:

Chair Gensler refuses to provide the marketplace with clear criteria for digital assets that he would consider to be a security. How can this industry comply if there are no rules or guidelines to follow?

The SEC has been under scrutiny several times before, as the SEC’s Director of Enforcement once stated that the SEC pursues enforcement actions on entities that are outside of its jurisdiction. Moreover, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia found the SEC to be acting “arbitrarily and capriciously” in its refusal to approve Grayscale’s Bitcoin spot ETF application.

According to Rep. Emmer, Gensler spends “taxpayer resources praising himself for targeting celebrities like Kim Kardashian while Sam Bankman-Fried was running a Ponzi scheme right under his nose.”

The congressman stated that the Congress would hold unelected bureaucrats accountable, adding that SEC Chair Gensler cannot continue to abuse his powers to fulfill a political agenda. He added that Congress must be allowed to finish its legislative work to ensure the future of digital asset innovation is “determined by Americans, not by unelected bureaucrats in D.C.”