Prior to Gary Gensler’s hearing before the US Senate Banking Committee on September 11, 2023, the digital currency exchange platform Coinbase criticized the US Securities and Exchange Commission’s (SEC) approach of relying solely on regulatory enforcement. On Tuesday, September 12, 2023, the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs is scheduled to hold a comprehensive hearing regarding the oversight of the US SEC.
US SEC’s Approach to Cryptocurrencies:
Coinbase cautioned that the only way to avoid the risk of job losses in the industry is to immediately adopt a legislative approach to curtail the SEC’s overreach. They emphasized that the regulatory uncertainty stemming from the enforcement-only approach poses a threat to 4 million jobs in the industry by 2030. The platform elaborated that regulation through legal procedures jeopardizes the US’s potential loss of one million developer jobs and three million non-technical jobs in the next seven years as web 3.0 development shifts abroad.
XRP Lawsuit Verdict: Will It Be Discussed During the Hearing?
It remains uncertain whether lawmakers will address the recent setback for the US SEC in the XRP lawsuit, where Judge Analisa Torres ruled that Ripple’s sale of tokens to retail buyers does not constitute a securities transaction. Previously, the agency submitted a legal memorandum to support its immediate appeal in the Ripple case.
Following the Senate hearing, Gary Gensler is scheduled to deliver a speech during a virtual fireside chat event at the 15th Anniversary Lehman Collapse Conference.