US lawmaker invokes SEC lawsuits in considering crypto regulatory framework

cointelegraph.com:

Members of the United States House Financial Services Committees met to discuss clarity for the digital asset ecosystem, with some invoking recent legal action from the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) against crypto firms.

In a June 13 hearing of the committee, ranking member Maxine Waters said Democrats were taking a “serious and thoughtful look” at a proposed framework introduced by Republicans on the regulation of digital assets. Committee chair Patrick McHenry said he expected bipartisan input on a draft bill, with markups following a congressional recess in July.

Waters suggested that without extensive analyses and collaboration between the two political parties, the digital asset legislation could leave the door open for potential fraud and misuse of customer funds. The California Representative cited the collapse of FTX, former CEO Sam Bankman-Fried’s criminal charges, and the SEC’s recent actions against Binance and Coinbase.

“I’m particularly worried that the Republican bill would allow crypto firms that are currently being sued for violating our securities laws to continue doing business through provisional registration,” said Waters. “The bill appears to halt any enforcement actions by the SEC against crypto firms even when they have committed fraud. This provisional registration could reward bad actors with a ‘get out of jail free’ card and allow them to continue harming consumers and investors.”

#TODAY @ 10 AM - RM @RepMaxineWaters leads Democrats as the full Cmte holds a hearing entitled “The Annual Testimony of the Secretary of the @USTreasury on the State of the International Financial System.”: https://t.co/4RoxMIa04b: https://t.co/x1uLfTjtuI

The draft bill introduced on June 2 would prohibit the SEC