Congressman French Hill has raised concerns over the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)’s handling of digital asset regulations, criticizing Chairman Gary Gensler’s leadership for creating legal uncertainty and a politicized approach. The lawmaker highlighted his subcommittee’s legislative successes but expressed frustration with the SEC’s broad and unclear regulations, which he argued burden digital asset firms and stifle innovation.
Lawmaker Flags Concerns Over SEC's Crypto Approach
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Rep. Hill Criticizes SEC’s Approach to Digital Assets
Congressman French Hill (R-AR), chair of the House Financial Services Subcommittee on Digital Assets, Financial Technology, and Inclusion, delivered remarks Wednesday at a hearing titled “Dazed and Confused: Breaking Down the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)’s Politicized Approach to Digital Assets.” The hearing scrutinized the SEC’s regulatory actions on digital assets under Chairman Gary Gensler, focusing on its enforcement methods and legal uncertainty.
In his speech, Hill acknowledged the subcommittee’s legislative achievements, including the Clarity for Payment Stablecoins Act and the Financial Innovation and Technology for the 21st Century Act (FIT21) regulatory framework. However, he expressed concern about the SEC’s actions under Gensler’s leadership, stating:
Despite this legislative progress on a bipartisan basis, we’ve been troubled by the fact that the SEC as chaired by Chairman Gensler has instead chosen to front-end the work of Congress and insert politics instead of being an independent regulator.
Hill argued that the SEC’s approach has created confusion and uncertainty, particularly through broad, unclear regulations that impose heavy burdens on digital asset firms. “How is this protecting the public?” he questioned, noting that this strategy leaves market participants in a “lose-lose-lose” situation.
The lawmaker criticized the SEC’s handling of digital asset custody services, stating, “Nowhere has the SEC’s prejudice against digital assets been more apparent than in the Staff Accounting Bulletin 121, which upends decades of legal precedent in the custody business and creates an impenetrable hurdle for those financial institutions seeking to provide digital asset custody services for their clients—particularly banks and bank trust departments.”
He also highlighted that the SEC’s actions have driven blockchain developers out of the U.S. and condemned the approval process for bitcoin exchange-traded products (ETFs). “Even the SEC’s approval of exchange-traded products for bitcoin and ether earlier this year only happened because Chairman Gensler tried to overplay his hand but could no longer explain to the courts why the SEC approved bitcoin futures ETFs but not the proposed spot Bitcoin products,” Hill said, concluding:
We’re against SEC enforcement abuse and making it hard for legitimate actors who are trying to follow the rules to do a fine job and bring innovation and technology to our markets.
What do you think about Congressman French Hill’s remarks regarding the SEC’s approach to digital assets? Let us know in the comments section below.
