Peirce Criticizes SEC’s Regulation of Crypto Industry
Hester Peirce, Commissioner of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has criticized the regulatory body for its recent settlement with Kraken. The settlement resulted in the end of staking services for US clients on the crypto exchange. Peirce has expressed her disagreement with the SEC’s decision and has questioned the verdict that Kraken failed to register its staking services with the regulatory body.
Commissioner Peirce disagrees with the SEC’s decision to end staking on #Kraken 👩💼
“Using enforcement actions to tell people what the law is in an emerging industry is not an efficient or fair way of regulating” 🤔https://t.co/Fn13mtVmJa pic.twitter.com/GsDOv8yuba
— CryptoSavingExpert ® (@CryptoSavingExp) February 10, 2023
Staking Ban Questioned
Peirce stated that in the current climate, many crypto-related offerings are not making it through the SEC’s registration process, and it might not have been possible for Kraken to register its staking services. She also pointed out that staking services are not uniform and that one-off enforcement actions and a cookie-cutter analysis is not sufficient. Peirce has expressed her dissatisfaction with the SEC’s current pattern of regulating the crypto industry through strict enforcement instead of providing clear guidelines.
Peirce has also faulted the SEC for not providing guidance on crypto staking despite knowing about its existence for a long time. She believes that using enforcement actions to tell people what the law is in an emerging industry is not an efficient or fair way of regulating. Peirce has also stated that staking services raise a long list of complicated questions that need to be addressed, such as whether an individual staking service needs to be registered with the SEC or if each token’s staking program should be registered separately.
Calls for Clear Guidelines
Commissioner Peirce has voiced her dissent with the SEC’s decision to end staking services for US clients on Kraken. She believes that the SEC should provide clear guidelines for the crypto industry instead of regulating it through strict enforcement. Peirce’s public statement highlights the need for the SEC to rethink its approach to regulating the crypto industry and to provide more clarity for crypto-related offerings.
