Gary Gensler Hearing: US SEC Chair Seeks To Avoid XRP Lawsuit Questions

Ahead of the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Financial Services hearing on September 27, 2023, U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Chair Gary Gensler appears likely to repeat stance he took during the recent hearing before the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs.

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Gary Gensler Hearing: What To Expect

On September 12, 2023, CoinGape reported Gensler’s statement that crypto industry is rife with fraud, abuse, and misconduct. Similarly, he repeated the statement in his latest testimony submitted before the House Committee on Financial Services. The hearing is titled ‘Oversight of the Securities and Exchange Commission’ and will be livestreamed at September 27, 2023 at 10 AM eastern standard time. Extending the US SEC’s widely criticized stance on crypto regulation, Gensler had in the testimony stated, “Most crypto tokens are subject to the securities laws.”

Further, he gave a prior notice of silence on ongoing litigations like the XRP lawsuit and the Grayscale spot ETF conversion ruling. When asked about the SEC’s actions so far on the approval of spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs), Gensler said it was work in progress with the agency officials. Contrary to Gary Gensler usual style of communication, the Commission’s chair has been relatively silent on the crypto enforcement part since the XRP lawsuit Summary Judgment came out.

“While I’m happy to discuss the SEC’s work, I will not be able to comment on any active, ongoing litigation.”

In a memorandum to the Committee from the Republicans mentioned the SEC’s past actions like the definition of crypto trading platforms and companies running crypto custodial activities. Hence, questions are likely to come up on these lines. In addition, Congressman Blaine Luetkemeyer sent a letter to Gensler along with the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) on concerns of the two bodies’ scrutiny of registered broker dealers with ties to the Chinese Communist Party like Prometheum and Webull.

It may be recalled that since May 2023, the SEC had been under fire from several lawmakers and members of the crypto community for approving Prometheum’s application to offer custody of digital assets following FINRA approval.

Timeline For Crypto Regulatory Framework

In the context of the recent legislative actions to implement laws around crypto industry, the members of House Committee may likely grill the SEC Chair on specifics about timeline based framing of the United States crypto regulatory framework. In a latest development, a bipartisan coalition of lawmakers has urged Gensler to speed up the spot ETF approval process in the context of the recent court filings like the Grayscale verdict that granted motion to convert the company’s Bitcoin Trust into a spot Bitcoin ETF.

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