SEC Commissioner Hester “Crypto Mom” Peirce is voicing her opposition to Chair Gary Gensler’s anti-crypto agenda. 😡
Maybe ‘voicing her opposition’ is a nice way of saying it. Her response, Rendering Innovation Kaput: Statement on Amending the Definition of Exchange, excoriates the SEC’s attempt to strangle and stifle the crypto space even further.
She takes issue with the proposed change to the definition of “exchange” encompassing decentralized finance (DeFi) protocols. Peirce argues that this change would only serve to promote stagnation, centralization, and hinder innovation, rather than embracing the potential of new technology.
The Commissioner emphasizes that the SEC should remain open to the idea of adapting its rules to accommodate new technologies, as it understood and practiced in the 1990s. By doing so, the regulatory body would allow for significant innovations in securities trading and other financial services. 🤬
However, Peirce warns that the SEC’s latest release signifies a shift toward an era where cutting-edge businesses might be locked out of the market because they can’t conform to existing regulatory mandates.
She urges the Commission to consider the possibility that their rules, which have evolved in the past to address the needs of investors and firms in traditional securities markets, might require some tweaking to permit firms to offer innovative finance solutions using novel technologies. 💸