Last week, U.S. Senate Banking Committee Ranking Member Pat Toomey (R-Pa.) published his opening statement from a recent hearing with U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Chairman Gary Gensler in which the senator said that "the SEC has failed to provide consumers and innovators alike with much-needed regulatory clarity when it comes to digital assets, prompting the need for Congress to step in." Among other things, Toomey criticized the SEC for failing to take action to prevent the recent bankruptcies of Celsius and Voyager, saying, "The SEC took enforcement action against BlockFi for similar activities last winter, yet somehow ... Celsius and Voyager continued through this spring, when both companies blew up and found themselves in bankruptcy, with investors staring at billions in losses." Toomey also criticized Gensler's recent remarks suggesting that "many crypto intermediaries ... are transacting in securities and have to register with the SEC." According to Toomey, "Given the novel nature of these tokens, Congress ought to step in to provide clarity. In particular, we need to revisit the definition of 'security' as part of a larger effort to tailor a regulatory framework that is calibrated to the unique risks and activities of the crypto market."
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