The U.S. government’s market regulator can’t break the cryptocurrency cycle. The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has cracked down on crypto exchanges without defining most tokens, stoking criticism that it has fostered a regulatory grey area and depressed prices. But now the agency is struggling to hire the experts it needs to keep policing the sector, partly because crypto lovers don’t want to sell their coins at depressed prices. Even regulatory cops need friends in low places.
The agency struggled to recruit experts over the past year, the SEC’s inspector general said in an October report, because several candidates were unwilling to abide by the agency’s ethics rules and sell their crypto investments. Hiring such specialists is “critical” to probing new problems in crypto markets, the inspector general wrote. Yet supporters of bitcoin and the like have long criticized the SEC for regulating through enforcement instead of setting clear guidelines.
The SEC’s lack of clarity has contributed to a rout in the market causing prices to collapse. Perhaps having a clearer strategy could help the agency more easily hire the experts it needs. For the SEC to do its job as best it can, it might need to replace its bad-cop routine with some good-cop action.(By Ben Winck)
Follow @Breakingviews on X
Capital Calls – More concise insights on global finance:
UK fashion retailer can revive discount price tag read more
Starbucks pays little mind to unions’ pay push read more
Paramount summits a precarious streaming peak read more
Maersk’s woes signal slow-motion industry crash read more
Macquarie sends shareholders a sell signal read more
Aston Martin recovery path gets ever narrower
