Jake Chervinsky: The SEC Doesn't Have Full Authority Over Crypto

In recent days, there has been a lot of fear centering around the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The agency is clearly motivated to try and bring crypto down for good, though according to Jake Chervinsky – the chief policy officer of the Blockchain Association – traders and investors shouldn’t worry too much as at the end of the day, it’s not the SEC that makes general rules and regulations regarding crypto, but Congress.

The SEC Doesn’t Have That Much Power

The SEC has been targeting several digital currency companies as of late. Not long ago, it was announced that popular digital currency exchange Kraken in Northern California had settled a case with the financial agency and forfeited nearly $30 million in penalty fees. Also, as part of the settlement, the company was made to end all its staking activities and related services.

Many individuals took this as an act of war against staking and crypto in general. Many industry heads – including Brian Armstrong of Coinbase fame – took to arms and said that ending staking in the United States would cause innovation to suffer and give the nation’s enemies a chance to flourish and get ahead.

In any case, the trouble didn’t quite end there. Not long after it went after Kraken, the SEC called its tanks and guns to the frontlines and attacked crypto firm Paxos, which had been minting new units of Binance USD (BUSD), the native stable coin of the popular and well-known trading platform. The company was given a cease-and-desist letter from the organization and told to end its minting process as allegedly, these tokens were being offered as unregistered securities.

In addition, the company was informed through a Wells notice that it was going to be facing charges in court relatively soon. The firm has since issued a statement saying it completely disagrees with the SEC’s decision and that it plans to fight accordingly.

Two situations of the SEC attacking crypto firms – one right on top of the other – has gotten people quite nervous as of late, but Chervinsky is trying to serve as the voice of reason and is telling everyone not to panic just yet. In the end, the SEC comes off as a big bully, but while it may appear to have authority over the crypto space and while it potentially looks as though it can push it around and instill newfound regulations, this ability does not exist within its walls.

Everyone Needs to Relax

He says that for crypto to change or incur any serious legalities, they would have to be initiated by Congress, and right now, the divisions between House republicans and democrats have prevented this. He mentioned in an interview:

Policy is made in all three branches of government, and we’ve ignored the judiciary for too long.

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