Coinbase (NASDAQ:COIN) CEO Brian Armstrong is expected to meet with Democrat House members to discuss regulatory issues and the ongoing battle with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), according to a report.
Reuters says that Armstrong will speak with members of the New Democrat Coalition this Wednesday about digital assets.
In general, Republican members have been far more supportive of the digital asset ecosystem and Fintech overall. Some of the most critical politicians have been liberal Senators and Representatives that believe crypto is one big scam. But some Democrats have become uncomfortable with the SEC’s regulation-by-enforcement approach, and legislation is working its way through both the House and the Senate that may provide new rules to improve investor protection while allowing digital asset innovation.
One example is Democrat Representative Ritchie Torres of New York, who criticized the SEC for “acting like an overzealous traffic cop” while “keeping the speed limit secret.” He pointed to the deal with Prometheum that received a special purpose broker-dealer license while other platforms tread water.
🚨 @SECGov is acting like an overzealous traffic cop arbitrarily ticketing drivers while keeping the speed limit a secret.
It prefers to communicate by enforcement rather than by rules or guidance. But that's no way to regulate digital assets.
I'm calling for an investigation. https://t.co/ZbiSk6oQ9F pic.twitter.com/n0hijAREDC
— Rep. Ritchie Torres (@RepRitchie) July 13, 2023
The SEC has sued Coinbase, the only public crypto exchange in the US, which was approved by the SEC to become a public firm. Many insiders see Gensler as pursuing his personal ambitions, attempting to garner favor with influential policymakers, as he looks to level up in the current administration. But Gensler may have placed his money on the wrong number as certain Congressional leaders want to provide more investor protection beyond the SEC’s current take action-after-the-fact approach as it did with FTX.
