Crypto Industry Tells SEC: Please Stop Trying to Make Fetch Happen with Old-School Rules! 🤦‍♀️

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regulating crypto like your grandma does her stocks isn’t going to cut it. 🚫📈

The letter, dropped May 2, 2025 (because deadlines are real in Washington), zeroes in on all the glamorous stuff—trading, clearing, settlement, custody. Imagine Wall Street, but with more acronyms and slightly less caffeine. The membership reads like a “Who’s Who of Crypto,” starring Coinbase, Ripple, Uniswap Labs, and probably that one guy who won’t stop talking about Bitcoin at your cousin’s wedding.

Blockchain Association: Can We NOT Play Jenga with Outdated Rules?

Apparently, people are still using X as a social network, and the Blockchain Association hopped on there to say, “Seriously, SEC, let’s get flexible!” New chair Paul Atkins (hi, Paul!) is in, and the Association’s message is loud and clear: the classic SEC rulebook is basically Sudoku for the crypto crowd—it doesn’t work and just leaves everyone stressed.

They politely-but-firmly told the SEC to stop inventing rules that handcuff blockchain use (“Let blockchain be free! Like a cat that refuses to listen!”). With real-time settlement and lower transaction costs, the crypto scene’s not exactly tap-dancing to the DOW’s greatest hits.

The letter suggests tossing out those fussy, overbearing equity protections. Instead, they want more transparency, less suffocating regulation, and a strong dash of “let us explain ourselves at every single turn.” Basically: disclosure, not dictatorship.

The Part Where Transparency Is a Feature, Not a Bug

Because nothing says “regulatory fun” like open ledgers, the Blockchain Association wants the SEC to use exchange APIs and already-public data for oversight. “You can see everything, no need to hire a PI or camp outside our digital windows.” Just, y’know, don’t over-collect and accidentally become Big Brother.

Policy pro Marisa Tashman Coppel chimed in last June: Grab too much personal data, and you risk an epic privacy fail. (Please, no more creepy data vaults. Nobody wants their Ethereum wallet analyzed at Thanksgiving.)

Instead of old-school recordkeeping, the Association says blockchain’s transparency lets you see everything (kind of like airport security, if the TSA was polite and didn’t confiscate your shampoo). But bonus: actual privacy is somehow still possible!

The SEC’s Greatest Hits: Remix Edition

Looking back, the Association basically accused former SEC Chair Gary Gensler of trying to dress crypto up like a stock market for Halloween, and well, it wasn’t a great costume. Under old management, the SEC labeled nearly every digital asset as a security and cracked the whip on anyone with a half-finished whitepaper.

“The previous administration tried to mold crypto market structure along the lines of a stylized view of the equity markets,” the letter almost sighed into the void.

Now, with Atkins in charge, we’re told it’s a whole new vibe: friendlier, more collaborative, maybe even “let’s workshop this over a latte.” There’s a new task force (with, presumably, matching jackets)—also, public roundtables! Because nothing says regulatory revolution like a meeting that could’ve been an email.

Meanwhile, in Crypto-Soap-Opera World…

The SEC finally figured out that maybe PayPal’s PYUSD stablecoin isn’t the villain after all, and closed their investigation with a cheery “let’s never speak of enforcement again.” Ripple’s Chris Larsen also had a mysterious meeting with Chair Atkins, presumably about XRP, or maybe just about the best place to get dumplings in DC.

And in the “Can We Have an Extension?” segment, the SEC and Binance made a joint request for 60 more days. (Apparently, even federal regulators need to finish their homework late.)

Over in the UK, the Financial Conduct Authority is channeling its inner “feedback box” and asking the public and the industry, “How should we wrangle crypto in this green and pleasant land?” So yes, regulators everywhere are trying to get their heads around this thing, and possibly take fewer naps on the job.

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2025-05-03 02:28