US Congress accused SEC of bias towards crypto market participants

Congressman Wiley Nickel accused the US Securities and Exchange Commission of bias against participants in the crypto industry and reluctance to fulfill its responsibilities to protect the rights of investors. The politician believes that the SEC does not follow the tasks assigned to it to defend the interests of investors.

Nickel’s appeal states that the commission is acting beyond its authority by lobbying for the adoption of Statement of Accounting Bulletin 121 (SAB 121). According to this initiative, financial institutions that are required to report to the regulator about the digital assets a company holds will be required to list them on their balance sheet.

The congressman believes that this rule will become a hindrance for American banks in the context of holding a significant amount of assets associated with cryptocurrencies. This will also trigger a “concentration risk” of funds among non-bank institutions.

Many US investors will begin to look for options for offshore storage of deposits, which may turn out to be much riskier, the congressman fears.

“Unfortunately, the SEC’s open hostility toward the digital assets industry isn’t serving President Biden’s best interests,” Nickel said in the letter. “The SEC is turning cryptocurrency regulation into a political football and forcing President Biden to choose sides on an issue that matters to many Americans,” Nickel said.

And investor and billionaire Mark Cuban believes that “all cryptocurrencies” should be regulated by the US Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), not the SEC. The entrepreneur believes that resolving this issue could secure Joe Biden’s next presidential term.

“You could solve this problem for Biden by passing legislation that defines registration that is specific to the crypto industry just as other industries have registration that is defined for them. Or you could do the better option and assign all crypto to be regulated by the @CFTC,” the billionaire previously said.

Do you agree with the investor?