Circle CEO says SEC is not the right regulator for stablecoins
The head of the SEC, Gary Gensler, made a statement that all digital currencies, with the exception of BTC, fall into the category of securities. The official cited private company stocks and U.S. Treasuries, which are already being issued digitally, as examples.
According to Gensler, there are so many securities today that the $24 trillion treasury market could be placed on a distributed ledger and taken out of the control of regulators. This is why all crypto assets, except for BTC, must be under the supervision of the SEC. Gensler does not rule out that behind crypto projects there are individuals who use non-transparent schemes to promote digital currencies and attract investors.
“A group of entrepreneurs can easily set up legal entities in an offshore tax haven, they can even have a fund and legal professionals. At first, they may move their business abroad, claiming or pretending that they will soon return to the United States. But, in essence, their crypto assets are securities because investors expect to receive a return on their investments,” Gensler said.
And Circle CEO Jeremy Allaire is convinced that the SEC is not the right regulator for stablecoins.
“I don’t think the SEC is the regulator for stablecoins. There is a reason why everywhere in the world, including the United States, the authorities directly say that payment stablecoins are the realm of the banking regulator, ”said Allair.
In his opinion, “not all stablecoins are created equally,” however, from the point of view of politicians, there was an opinion that “this is a payment system and space for the corresponding regulator.”
At the same time, Allaire endorsed the recent SEC proposal to expand the powers and strengthen the role of qualified custodians in the context of working with digital assets.
“Having qualified custodians who can provide appropriate oversight and bankruptcy protection, among other things, is an important and very valuable market structure. We have learned a lot from our assets ending up on random exchanges,” said the CEO of Circle.
