Feb 11, 2023
SEC Commissioner Slams Agency Over Kraken Shutdown
Hester Peirce, the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Commissioner, has publicly challenged her own agency over its decision to shut down a crypto exchange’s staking program in the United States. In a statement titled “Kraken Down”, Peirce argued that the SEC’s approach of regulating an emerging industry through enforcement is not effective or fair.
Peirce criticized the regulator for closing down a program that had been “serving people well” and suggested that the SEC should have initiated a public process to develop a registration process that provides investors with valuable information. She also accused the regulator of being “lazy and paternalistic”.
The statement was echoed by Coinbase CEO and co-founder Brian Armstrong, who tweeted that there is no clear path to registration and that requiring businesses to register their staking services is a “disingenuous offer”. Armstrong had previously warned that the SEC’s decision to get rid of crypto staking in the U.S. for retail customers would be a “terrible path for the U.S.”
Coinbase is currently under investigation by the SEC for its staking services, as revealed in an Aug. 9 SEC filing. On Feb. 9, the SEC announced that it had reached a $30 million settlement with Kraken, saying it failed “to register the offer and sale of their crypto asset staking-as-a-service program.” Kraken said in a blog post that it would still offer staking services to non-U.S. customers through a subsidiary, but according to the SEC announcement, the firm is permanently banned from providing staking services to U.S. residents, even if they sought to register it with the regulator.
Peirce, who is known affectionately as the SEC’s “Crypto Mom”, has been a vocal advocate of the crypto industry during her time at the regulator. In April 2021, she proposed a “safe harbor” for token projects which are looking to build decentralized networks, in which the network developers would receive a three-year grace period where they were exempt from SEC legal action.
The shutdown of Kraken’s staking program is a major setback for the web3 space and the crypto industry as a whole. Staking is a major component of the crypto ecosystem, and NFTs are a major part of the web3 space. As such, NFT marketing and promotion is essential for the success of any NFT project.
A NFT marketing agency can help NFT projects to reach the right audiences and maximize the impact of their NFTs. NFT marketing agencies offer a wide range of services, including social media campaigns, influencer marketing, and Twitter NFT marketing. They also help NFT projects to create effective strategies for selling NFTs.
The crypto industry is still in its infancy, and the SEC needs to take a more proactive approach to regulating it. Peirce’s dissent is a step in the right direction, and the SEC should listen to the industry’s experts and create a fair and efficient regulatory framework that allows the industry to flourish.
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