Turnabout in Relationships Between Financial Regulators, Such as the SEC, and the Cryptocurrency Industry
Five members of Congress in the United States have written a letter to seven financial regulators in the country inquiring about the steps that are being taken to stop the revolving door that exists between their respective agencies and the cryptocurrency business. Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Massachusetts), Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-Rhode Island), Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-Michigan), Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-New York), and Rep. Jes G. Rodrguez (D-Texas) all put their names to the letters, which were dated October 24. "Chuy" García (D-IL).

The letters were addressed to the Chair of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Gary Gensler; the Chair of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), Rostin Behnam; the Secretary of the Treasury, Janet Yellen; the Chair of the Federal Reserve, Jerome Powell; the Acting Chair of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC), Martin Gruenberg; the Acting Comptroller of the Currency for the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC), Michael J

The letter that the lawmakers sent to the regulators began, "We write asking information regarding the steps your agency is doing to stop the revolving door between our financial regulatory agencies and the cryptocurrency (crypto) industry." "Over the past few months, the cryptocurrency industry has significantly ramped up its lobbying efforts, shelling out millions of dollars in an effort to secure favorable regulatory outcomes as Congress and federal agencies work to craft and enforce rules to regulate this multi-trillion dollar industry."

The letter provides additional information, stating, "According to the Tech Transparency Project, over 200 government officials have moved between public service and crypto firms, serving as advisers, board members, investors, lobbyists, legal counsel, or in-house executives." This information was obtained from the Tech Transparency Project.

The lawmakers added that among them are at least 31 officials from the Treasury Department, 28 officials from the SEC, 15 officials from the CFTC, six officials from the Federal Reserve, five officials from the OCC, three officials from the CFPB, and two officials from the FDIC.