18 republican the attorney general was sued On Thursday, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and Chairman Gary Gensler were accused of overstepping the agency's authority in enforcement actions against the cryptocurrency industry.
The states, led by Kentucky Attorney General Russell Coleman, have argued that the SEC is “unilaterally attempting to take regulatory authority away from the states” regarding virtual currency enforcement.
“Instead of respecting the constitutional balance of power and allowing states to develop and enforce their own tailored digital asset regulations based on their own policy priorities… The SEC's claims deprive countries of their proper sovereign role and create a chilling effect on “the development of an innovative regulatory framework for the digital asset industry,” the complaint states.
“Worse still, the SEC seeks to shoehorn digital assets into nonconforming federal securities laws and inadequate disclosure regimes, replacing more appropriate state laws carefully designed to ensure consumer protection.” “The digital asset industry is harming the very people it purports to protect.”
The crypto industry has engaged in a feud with Gensler and the SEC throughout the Biden administration, arguing that the agency does not set clear rules and instead regulates crypto through enforcement.
Gensler defended his record on cryptocurrency enforcement in remarks at a legal conference earlier Thursday.
“Court after court has agreed with our actions to protect investors, rejecting all arguments that the SEC cannot enforce the law when securities are offered, in whatever form,” he said. said.
But with President-elect Trump's victory next week, the SEC appears poised to shift gears in several areas, including digital assets.
Despite previously dismissing cryptocurrencies as a “scam,” Trump has now fully embraced the industry, vowing to make the United States the “crypto capital of the planet” and eliminate Gensler.
The president-elect recently launched a cryptocurrency platform with his sons called World Liberty Financial.
