Despite recent saber-rattling on the lack of “robust oversight” over cryptocurrency by Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) chairman Gary Gensler, the Commission has no plans to regulate cryptocurrency in 2021, according to its recently published rulemaking list.
Via Investing.com:
Late Monday afternoon, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) made public its regulatory agenda for 2021. Conspicuously missing from its list of regulatory priorities for the year was any mention of cryptocurrencies, blockchain, or specific tokens such as Bitcoin or Ethereum.
The regulatory omission of crypto from the SEC’s possible policy punch list is surprising given recent news regarding cryptocurrency miner energy consumption, increasing ransomware attacks paid in Bitcoin, potential threat of private cryptocurrencies to sovereign currencies asserted by the International Monetary Fund and politicians, the IRS clampdown on capturing crypto scofflaws and more.
None of those topics made the regulatory “To Do” list for the top regulatory agency that oversees financing, banking, securities, and commodities trading markets. This is clearly good news for crypto bulls who no longer have a regulatory headwind for the remainder of the year.
The omission of crypto means that the SEC is effectively putting off a potentially high-impact decision on bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs). VanEck, a New York-based ETF and mutual fund manager, made an application for a Bitcoin ETF to receive SEC approval at the end of 2020, but the commission has avoided making a decision.
According to analysts who spoke to Reuters, “the regulator is worried it does not have proper surveillance over crypto exchanges to ensure adequate investor protections are in place.”
While crypto regulation is off the table, the SEC is tackling the all-important issue of corporate board diversity, with a proposal to “enhance registrant disclosures about the diversity of board members and nominees.”
Allum Bokhari is the senior technology correspondent at Breitbart News. He is the author of #DELETED: Big Tech’s Battle to Erase the Trump Movement and Steal The Election.