Coinbase calls for lifting of SEC ban on cryptocurrency holdings

Odaily Planet Daily News Coinbase called on the U.S. Office of Government Ethics (OGE) to lift regulations prohibiting U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) staff from holding crypto assets. In an open letter sent to OGE Acting Director Jamieson Greer and new SEC Chairman Paul Atkins on April 25, Coinbase Chief Legal Officer Paul Grewal said that SEC staff need to actually use cryptocurrencies to better understand how they work and how to effectively regulate them. Grewal wrote in a letter to Jamieson Greer: "To regulate a technology, you must first understand it; to understand technology, you must actually use it. Allowing SEC staff to hold crypto assets is the key to their mastery of the necessary knowledge and the development of a viable digital securities regulatory framework." OGE's Legal Advisory 22-04, issued on July 4, 2022, prohibits SEC staff from buying, selling, or otherwise using cryptocurrencies and stablecoins. (Cointelegraph)