SEC Addresses Crypto: SEC Commissioner Raises a Flag of Hope for Crypto Industry

Hester Peirce, the US’s SEC Commissioner addressed cryptocurrencies and ICOs in her speech at the Medici Conference where she focuses on understanding the crypto market before putting forward any regulations that might curb the innovation.

Hester Peirce talks about being a better lifeguard for cryptocurrencies

For the past couple of months, the US Securities and Exchange Commission has been taking an active interest in the cryptocurrency industry and if they classify as securities or not. SEC’s remarks on cryptocurrency hold immense significance as it will affect its future.

Jay Clayton, SEC Chief has been changing its tune on cryptocurrencies lately as in February, he went with “Every ICO I’ve seen is a security” then softened his stance by going as far as rejecting the idea of all ICOs being fraudulent, at the beginning of April.

However, Clayton is not the only one who seems to have taken a somewhat positive inclination towards cryptos as Hester Peirce, the SEC Commissioner who was appointed by Trump thoroughly addressed ICOs and SEC’s role in this nascent industry.

During a speech at the Medici Conference in Los Angeles, Peirce, who is a member of the Federalist Society talks about innovations being a challenge for regulators and propose the idea to first learn about the technology

“so that we are able to think about the regulatory obstacles that may stand in the way of crypto-technology’s ability to improve our lives.  How can I, in a sense, be a better lifeguard?”

Further going with the lifeguard role, she states:

“On a beach, the lifeguard watches over what is happening, but she is not sitting with sandcastle builders monitoring their every design decision. From her perch on the lifeguard stand, she can spot dangerous activity and intervene with a blow of the whistle or, if necessary, a direct intervention. She always stands ready to answer questions about the rules of the beach. She puts up the red flag to warn of dangerous riptides or sharks.”

Also, read: Morgan Stanley Making its Way into Crypto Industry

Protecting the investors’ interest without controlling the market growth

Being a senior at the SEC and having decision making powers along with four other commissioners, this is a good thing that she is talking about doing the homework before dropping their hammers on crypto market,

“we must be careful not to let our lack of familiarity with new technology breed anxiety and therefore bad regulation.”

She further doesn’t want regulators to curb the creative process, “the regulator should be careful not to try to control the development of new technologies.”

Moving to the classification of cryptos like Ethereum into security, she clears the air with:

“Designating certain ICOs securities offerings does not end the inquiry once and for all.  What, for example, are the coins once the environment is completed? Are they still securities, subject to all the regulations that follow securities into the secondary market? Or are they something else?  A commodity? A currency?”

Pierce certainly raised a flag of hope for the crypto market with her statement:

“The law deserves respect, but technological progress should not be bound by the limits of the regulator’s lawyerly imagination.”

The SEC Commissioner ended her speech with emphasis on working towards protecting investors interest and punishing the frauds by setting clear rules.

Given the latest remarks by SEC officials, do you think crypto market would be in for positive regulations in the US?