In a public statement that pulls few punches, SEC Commissioner Caroline Crenshaw has criticized the regulator and the Crypto Task Force for “muddying the waters” over the security status of crypto assets.
She said her agency’s new tack on crypto regulation was not creating clarity on digital assets, but instead “thwarting any meaningful attempt to apply a coherent regime to crypto assets.” She went on to assert that “we are not actually chasing crypto clarity” but instead “simply getting out of the way of anything and everything in the crypto space.”
Crenshaw zeroed in on the SEC’s divergent opinions on whether certain cryptocurrencies are securities.
She noted that despite staff statements repeatedly stating that many forms of cryptocurrencies, including meme coins and stablecoins, are not securities, the SEC’s decision to greenlight ethereum and solana ETFs would imply the opposite position.
Crenshaw cited the following SEC staff statements endorsing the position that certain cryptocurrencies are not securities, against which Crenshaw previously dissented:
- statement on Meme Coins;
- statement on Stablecoins;
- statement on Certain Proof-of-Work Mining Activities.
And contrasted them with a recently-issued statement on crypto ETFs.
“How is it that these crypto assets are supposedly not securities when it comes to registration requirements, but conveniently are securities when a registrant sees an opportunity to sell a new product?” she asked, adding pointedly: “If you’re confused, join the club.”
Crenshaw implied that the SEC was regulating crypto based on desired outcomes, rather than focusing on how to best classify digital assets and was “rewarding a maximally aggressive approach to entering our markets. This results in opportunistic – and deeply inconsistent – legal interpretations.”
