A U.S. lawmaker has urged Congress to pass his bill that would fire U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Chairman Gary Gensler. This call followed the securities regulator filing a second lawsuit against crypto exchange Kraken this year after the exchange paid $30 million to settle the initial lawsuit.
Lawmaker Seeks to Fire Gary Gensler
Congressman Warren Davidson (R-OH) has called on Congress to pass his bill that would fire Gary Gensler as the chairman of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) after the securities regulator sued crypto exchange Kraken twice in 10 months. Rep. Davidson wrote on social media platform X on Tuesday:
Now would be a great time to pass my SEC Stabilization Act and fire Gary Gensler.
On Monday, the SEC filed its second lawsuit this year against Kraken for operating a crypto trading platform “as an unregistered securities exchange, broker, dealer, and clearing agency.” The initial charge in February pertained to the crypto exchange’s staking program, resulting in a settlement with the SEC and a $30 million payment by Kraken.
Jesse Powell, Kraken’s co-founder and former CEO, wrote on social media platform X on Monday: “USA’s top decel is back with another assault on America … I thought we settled all their concerns for $30m in Feb. Now they’re back for seconds?” He stressed:
Message is clear: $30M buys you about 10 months before the SEC comes around to extort you again. Lawyers can do a lot with $30M but the SEC knows that a real fight will likely cost $100M+, and valuable time. If you can’t afford it, get your crypto company out of the U.S. warzone.
Commenting on Powell’s statements, lawyer John Deaton opined on X: “Gary Gensler is a despicable and dishonorable regulator. He knew that Kraken believed it was buying peace for the $30M.” He explained that in a court case, “$30M takes you only so far, like maybe only 1/3 of the way — if you’re lucky. Ask Ripple and Brad Garlinghouse who spent $150M plus so far, and is still paying millions in legal fees.”
Rep. Davidson introduced the SEC Stabilization Act in June to remove SEC Chair Gary Gensler in order to safeguard U.S. capital markets “from a tyrannical chairman.” He explained that the bill would “remove the role of chairman,” noting: “It would preserve the current commissioners but it would add a sixth commissioner so there would be no more than three from any one political party.”
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