President Joe Biden plans to retain anti-crypto commissioner Caroline Crenshaw at the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) after her first term expired on June 5.
The move is part of a leadership reshuffle at top US financial regulatory institutions. Crenshaw, who has served with the SEC since 2020, emerged as an anti-crypto voice during her tenure alongside SEC Chair Gary Gensler.
Crenshaw’s Anti-Crypto Tenure at the SEC
Crenshaw is one of the two SEC Commissioners who voted against the approval of spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs) in January.
She said that criminals use Bitcoin to evade US sanctions and promote ransomware attacks, and that Bitcoin’s spot price is prone to manipulation and fraud.
She added that the SEC, in approving BTC ETFs, is on a “wayward path” to “sacrifice investor protection.”
“I am concerned that these products will flood the markets and land squarely in the retirement accounts of US households who can least afford to lose their savings to the fraud and manipulation that appears prevalent in the spot bitcoin markets,” she said in a statement.
In 2021, the SEC commissioner voiced disapproval of the decentralized finance (DeFi) sector operating in an unregulated space. While DeFi presented many opportunities, she criticized the sector’s lack of transparency.
Joe Biden Gives Mixed Signals on Crypto
The Biden administration is giving mixed signals about its stance towards the crypto industry. In May, the SEC unexpectedly approved spot Ether ETFs, a move widely seen as prompted by political considerations as presidential rival Donald Trump pivoted towards a pro-crypto stance.
But a few days later, the crypto community was in an uproar after Biden vetoed a pro-crypto bill.
The proposed term extension for Crenshaw comes soon after reports that the Biden campaign team was considering accepting crypto donations.
Trump though has come out with a strongly pro-crypto stance, saying he wants to be ”crypto president,” accepting campaign donations in crypto, and vowing support for the Bitcoin mining industry.
