U.S. lawmakers slam Gary Gensler as the most "destructive" and "lawless" chairman in SEC history

At a House Financial Services Committee hearing, U.S. SEC Chairman Gary Gensler was criticized by lawmakers and members of his agency for his handling of U.S. cryptocurrency regulation. U.S. Congressman Tom Emmer slammed Gensler as the most "destructive" and "lawless" chairman in the regulator's 90-year history. Emmer told Gensler, "You coined the term crypto asset security, but it's not found in the regulations. You made it up, and you never provided any interpretive guidance on how to define crypto asset securities within the scope of the SEC. Your inconsistency on this issue has taken the United States backwards in this area." Emmer said the term was the entire basis of Gensler's "enforcement campaign" against the cryptocurrency industry over the past three years. Until last week, SEC lawyers withdrew the term in a court footnote. Emmer also grilled Gensler on his agency's handling of the Debt Box case. In that case, the SEC sued a crypto startup for an alleged $50 million fraud scheme. The case against Debt Box was dismissed on May 28, and the SEC was ordered to pay $1.8 million in fees. Emmer said that SEC lawyers fabricated a series of lies in the Debt Box case to "execute" Gensler's "anti-crypto rhetoric" and the "dictates" of the enforcement regulatory agenda. "That was not handled well," Gensler said in response to Emmer's question. In addition, despite 42 US politicians calling on the SEC to repeal SAB 121, Gensler said that the regulation will remain in effect. "No, it's a good accounting announcement," Gensler said in response to a question from House member Wiley Nickel about whether the SEC would repeal the regulation. Gensler said it will help public companies understand the risks of holding cryptocurrencies, and pointed to the examples of FTX, Terraform Labs and other cryptocurrency companies that have gone bankrupt. (Cointelegraph)