SEC Chair Gensler's remarks on cryptocurrency are deemed "concerning" by Congressmen McHenry and Thompson

Reps. Patrick McHenry (R-N.C.) and Glenn Thompson (R-Pa.) said SEC Chair Gary Gensler's recent comments on increasing crypto regulation, as well as a letter Gensler sent to Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) stating that the SEC needs more authority to regulate cryptocurrency, provide a "concerning roadmap for regulatory actions that will have long-term implications."

- “Rather than regulating innovation and job creation out of this nation, we should encourage an active conversation between regulators and market participants,” the lawmakers said in an open letter to Gensler and acting Commodity Futures Trading Commission Chairman Rostin Behnam. H.R. 1602, the Eliminate Barriers to Innovation Act of 2021, which passed the US House of Representatives in April, has this aim, according to the two.

- The SEC and the CFTC are required under the 2021 act to form a joint Working Group on Digital Assets comprising market players, academic research groups, and investor protection organizations, among others.

- To “ensure the digital asset marketplace thrives in the United States,” the two said legislators and regulators should work together to strike a balance between preserving innovation and any new restrictions.

- They demanded that Gensler, Behnam, and his colleagues commissioners explain how the SEC and the CFTC intend to collaborate on these problems.