US Securities And Exchange Commission Unwilling To Follow China's Tough On Cryptocurrencies

SEC will not ban crypto (Btchaber)

JAKARTA – The US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is reportedly not going to follow China's steps, which are considered to have acted harshly on cryptocurrencies, such as banning crypto transactions and mining in their own country. The statement was made by SEC Chair Gary Gensler in a joint session of the US House of Representatives Committee on Financial Services.

Gensler also stated that the SEC will not ban cryptocurrencies because it does not have the authority to do so. He left it up to Congress to decide. "That's up to Congress. What we do is the authority you have given us," Gensler said.

Launching DailyHodl, Gary Gensler said that the US and China have fundamentally different views on digital assets.

The US government seeks to protect consumers and investors, while China has chosen to strictly ban all crypto-related businesses.

“I think our approach is very different. The question is, how can we get this area in our investor and consumer protection? And also working with bank regulators and others, how do we ensure that the Treasury has it (consumer protection regulations) in place on money laundering, tax compliance and of course the financial stability issues that stablecoins can also pose?”

As previously reported, last September, the Chinese government banned all business activities related to cryptocurrency, including crypto trading and mining.

The tough decision had an impact on a number of major crypto exchanges such as Binance and Huobi which were forced to block new users from Mainland China. It doesn't stop there, Huobi plans to stop its services for Chinese users by the end of 2021.