The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) chairman, Gary Gensler, has come under fire from billionaire investor Mark Cuban for the agency’s murky rules, which he claims make it “almost difficult” for crypto investors and businessmen to receive clarification from the regulator.
Cuban was responding to Gensler’s recent editorial in the Wall Street Journal when the SEC chairman once more emphasized the importance of investor protection. According to Gensler’s op-ed, there is no justification to handle the cryptocurrency market differently from the rest of the capital markets simply because it utilizes different technology.
“The SEC will act as the neighborhood watch officer. We need to make sure that investor protections are normal in the cryptocurrency market, just like seat belts are in automobiles,” Gensler continued.
Cuban questioned the SEC’s expectations about investor and cryptocurrency firm communication.
Come in and talk to who ? Set up an appointment how ? You using Calendly these days ? Since you understand crypto lending/finances, why don't you just publish bright line guidelines you would like to see and open it up for comments ? https://t.co/N3KQAnutl9August 22, 2022
OpenSea, CryptoSlam, and SuperRare are among the cryptocurrencies that the 63-year-old Shark Tank star and owner of the NBA’s Dallas Mavericks have aggressively invested in recently.
The case of BlockFi
In his opinion piece, Gensler referred to the cryptocurrency lending platform BlockFi, which in February agreed to pay $100 million to resolve inquiries from the SEC and other federal and state securities regulators.
“The issue was what it did with the borrowed assets and what it didn’t do as a firm: make the required disclosures to investors,” Gensler stated about BlockFi’s high-yield interest accounts and the company lending out the borrowed crypto assets at greater rates.
Gensler claims that because BlockFi neglected to register these high-yield interest accounts as securities, the SEC views them as such.
“Thankfully, there is a way to move forward. I invite companies that offer cryptocurrency loans to visit and speak with SEC employees. Investors and the cryptocurrency market will gain if these platforms are brought into conformity with securities rules,” Gensler continued.
The SEC chair also stated that the organization’s “rigorous enforcement regime… is about following the facts and the law, wherever they may lead, on behalf of investors and working families,” in a previous thread on Twitter on Monday.
This is such Bullshit. You didn't start the BS, pls don't continue it. If you were working on behalf of investors you make it easy for questions by investors and businesspeople to be asked and answered. You make it near impossible. Those can't afford lawyers can only guess. https://t.co/CV7WC5ZmDxAugust 23, 2021
It not the First Time Cuban has Criticized SEC.
Cuban stated last month that anyone who thought that was a bad move in and of itself should wait to see what the SEC will come up with for the registration of tokens. This was in response to the agency’s allegations that at least nine cryptocurrencies considered unregistered securities were being traded on the cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase.
“For the cryptocurrency industry, that is the worst-case scenario. How else would you maintain the employment of thousands of attorneys and find justifications for requesting more tax dollars?”
