Congressman Torres Calls for Investigation Into SEC Over its Approach to Crypto

Congressman Ritchie Torres has asked for two separate independent investigations of the U.S. Securities Exchange Commission (SEC) for its “haphazard and heavy-handed approach to digital assets,” according to two letters he made public on Thursday.

Rep. Torres (D-N.Y.) requested investigations into the SEC granting a special purpose broker-dealer (SPBD) licence to Prometheum, “a trading digital assets platform that does not trade digital assets,” under unusual circumstances, and for its failure to create a rigorous but workable process for registering real-world digital assets platforms.

“The dubious decision to licence a deceptive digital assets platform reflects the latest attempt by Chair Gary Gensler to politicize the registration process to an extent seldom seen in the SEC’s history,” Torres wrote. “When it comes to trading platforms that operate in the real world, the SEC’s path to registration remains a bridge to nowhere.”

Rep. Torres (D-N.Y.) addressed one letter to the SEC’s Inspector General Deborah Jeffrey and another to the Government Accountability Office’s Comptroller General Gene Dodaro.

Torres called the SEC “an overzealous traffic agent who arbitrarily tickets drivers for speeding while keeping everyone endlessly guessing about the speeding limit,” adding that “regulation by enforcement is no way to regulate.”

Prometheum did not immediately respond to a CoinDesk request for comment.