Congressman Tom Emmer says SEC chair Gary Gensler is a ‘bad faith regulator’

Crypto-friendly Congressman Tom Emmer has slammed U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) chair Gary Gensler for his approach to cryptocurrency regulation, labeling him as a “bad faith regulator.”

Great interview by @laurashin with @GOPMajorityWhip! Congress is working in their districts this week and next, but expect a VERY busy last 2 weeks of April for crypto policy as legislation and oversight of the regulators ramps up. Stay tuned https://t.co/ZSsTFJ9pt7

— Ron Hammond (@RonwHammond) April 7, 2023

During an April 7 appearance on the Unchained podcast hosted by author and crypto journalist Laura Shin, Emmer didn’t mince his words as he questioned Gensler’s oversight on the crypto sector:

“This guy in my mind, is a bad-faith regulator. He’s been blindly spraying the crypto community with enforcement actions while completely missing the truly bad actors.”

Emmer pointed to the example of Coinbase, which before being slapped with a Wells Notice by the SEC in March, was actively trying to work with the agency by getting compliance feedback on staking products, among other things.

“Gary Gensler might have an open door, but it is an enter-at-your-own-risk door, because what he does is, despite several meetings over several months, Gary Gensler’s SEC refused to provide feedback,” he said, adding that:

“And instead, after all these meetings and nothing happening, the SEC slapped Coinbase with a Wells Notice regarding the very issues on which Coinbase was asking for their feedback.”

Since Gensler took over the helm of the SEC back in April 2021, he has repeatedly suggested that the agency has an amicable ‘open door policy’ and called on crypto firms to register with the SEC to maintain compliance with securities law.

This is mostly down to his view that nearly all crypto assets apart from Bitcoin (BTC) are classified as securities, and thus the sector should be primarily regulated by the SEC.

Related: US lawmaker accuses FDIC of using banking instability to attack crypto

Despite this, Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong has highlighted the difficulty of dealing with the SEC on several occasions, while other figures such as Kraken CEO Jesse Powell have echoed similar sentiments.

A major issue raised by many in the crypto community is the apparent anti-crypto-focused ‘regulation by enforcement’ approach stemming from the SEC and broader U.S. government.

Commenting on such, Emmer ultimately stated:

“This is clearly not the way the government should be serving Americans, and that it sends a clear message, I believe, to the broader crypto community, and that directly is ‘Gary Gensler is not regulating in good faith’.”

And if not, why is our government controlling one of the few private sector 24/7 money rails that supported the digital economy?

— Tom Emmer (@GOPMajorityWhip) March 29, 2023