Senator Cynthia: Suing Coinbase Isn’t Right Way To Do Business In US

Cynthia Lummis criticizes the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) for choosing to sue Coinbase, the biggest cryptocurrency exchange in the United States.

In a new interview with Yahoo Finance, the Republican lawmaker from Wyoming says that the SEC has handled the Coinbase issue poorly.

“We know that Coinbase went to the SEC and asked for guidance on how to comply with SEC regulations. And they did not get an adequate response and then were slapped with an enforcement action. To me, that seems like it’s not the right way to do business in America.”

The SEC filed a lawsuit against Coinbase earlier this month, saying that the publicly traded business was acting as an unregistered securities exchange, broker, and clearing agency.

Lummis, who supports Bitcoin (BTC), also says that Congress will soon talk about an updated version of the bipartisan bill she and New York Democrat Senator Kirsten Gillibrand presented in 2022 to bring clarity to the digital asset space.

“Yes, you will see an updated version of the Lummis-Gillibrand Responsible Financial Innovation Bill. You’ll see it in about two or three weeks. I was hoping you’d see it before the Fourth of July but [Legislative] Counsel has had to push it onto the back burner in order to address some issues that are very much on the front burner. But you’ll see it soon.

It beefs up the consumer protection components of the bill. We’re trying to address the illicit use of digital assets so there’s enough personnel and authority to address the illicit use. We’re still preserving the Howey Test, but finding what we hope are clear guidelines between what is a commodity and what is a security. We’re adding a self-regulatory organization on top when new technologies come along that can have regulators and industry leaders in the room to help figure out how to shepherd them through a regulatory process.”