Elizabeth Warren calls for the SEC to use full force of its regulatory powers in the crackdown on criptocurrencies.
Sen. Elizabeth Warren D-MA said Wednesday that the Securities Exchange Commission is off to a good start when it comes to regulating cryptocurrencies, but said it still has more to do in overseeing the industry.
Warren spoke to the American Economic Liberties Project on Wednesday, saying that the commission has been loud and clear that cryptocurrencies don't get a pass from longstanding security laws that protect investors.
Warren said that the SEC has the right rules and the right experience and that SEC Commissioner Gary Gensler is showing that he is the right leader to get the job done. The SEC needs to use the full force of its regulatory powers across the whole of the criptocurrency market. Warren called on the SEC to double down on the use of tools to enforce securities laws, and said that Congress needs to step up with more resources to help the Commission.
The SEC didn't respond immediately to Yahoo Finance's request for comment.
Sen. Warren called on the SEC in December to suit up, and said federal agencies should use their expansive authority to crack down hard on criptocurrencies. Gensler told Yahoo Finance in an interview: "We're already suited up." The SEC filed 760 enforcement cases in the fiscal year 2022, including 30 cases of criptocurrency. This year, there are two new suits against companies that have been brought against them this year.
Sen. Warren also called on environmental regulators to use their existing authority to require miners to disclose energy use and environmental impact, including the Department of Energy and the Environmental Protection Agency.
Warren said that Congress should give regulators the tools they need to give them the authority they need, because regulators don't have the authority they need.
The agency s funding has not kept pace with the scope of the SEC's duties, and the staffing levels today are below 2016 levels, according to a report from the advocacy group Better Markets.
The report said that the budget of the SEC is insufficient because of its enormous responsibilities and when compared to the wealth and resources of the financial services industry it oversees.
Dennis M. Kelleher, President and CEO of Better Markets, said the Securities and Exchange Commission SEC has been subject to withering and relentless criticism, often hypocritical, from the industry and its many allies, particularly in Congress. The criticism has been largely baseless and fact free. The report notes it takes two to three years to investigate a firm and that the SEC is constrained by laws to move faster, where the SEC could only act quickly if there is overwhelming, virtually undisputed evidence.