The U.S. war on crypto is ramping up, with the latest salvo being fired at Binance. Meanwhile, industry executives are raising concerns that Uncle Sam is choking crypto and innovation.
On March 27, Haun Ventures founder and Coinbase board member Katie Haun wrote an article about how U.S. financial regulators are intentionally stifling the crypto industry.
She opined that financial regulators had seized the opportunity to crack down following the high-profile meltdowns in 2022.
Furthermore, they have circumvented Congress to “try to freeze an entire industry out of banking services,” she stated.
Crypto Policy a Job For Congress
The former federal prosecutor added that crypto companies are getting lumped in with the bad actors. This is part of a “coordinated regulatory campaign to stymie progress in the sector,” she said.
Other countries are rolling out regulatory frameworks and legislation for the nascent industry. However, “unelected officials” are making major policy decisions about whether or not America should have a crypto industry, she said.
“These efforts are misguided, reckless, and potentially unconstitutional. Most important, they put America on the dangerous path of closing off the banking system to those disfavored by a particular administration.”
Haun echoed statements from fellow industry executives. “Major U.S. policy decisions should be made by Congress and state legislatures, not by unelected officials,” she said.
Furthermore, the SEC and CFTC have taken things into their own hands due to the regulatory void in the United States.
Honesty and transparency have been called for. However, the expedient political view “threatens to choke off innovation and punish legitimate actors.” The investment firm executive concluded:
“Government censorship as a backdoor substitute for the legislative process has no place in finance—or any industry.”
Banking Bunkum Redux
Capriole Fund founder Charles Edwards echoed the sentiment. He commented that the U.S. banking system is under stress, and financial regulators are lashing out at crypto in response.
“It’s ironic that in the last 2 weeks, US regulators have fired everything they have at Crypto as a result of Bitcoin being a viable alternative. Illegal shut-down of Signature Bank, unjustified Coinbase Wells notice, Binance sued, list goes on.”
The latest lawsuit targeting Binance has rattled markets today. Additionally, a 2.6% decline in total market capitalization has resulted in a fall to $1.78 trillion at the time of writing. However, the digital dust appears to have settled on markets that have held at current levels for the past 12 hours or so.
Disclaimer
BeInCrypto has reached out to company or individual involved in the story to get an official statement about the recent developments, but it has yet to hear back.
