CEO Messari Accused SEC of Corruption, Prepared for ‘War’

Messari’s boss is ready to accuse the SEC of corruption and ineffective regulation of the cryptocurrency industry.

Ryan Selkis, CEO and co-founder of Messari, has said he will no longer cooperate with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) in any official or unofficial capacity. He believes the regulator is undergoing reform and changing its leadership.

Selkis said that by going after cryptocurrency companies, the SEC is abandoning its responsibility to protect citizens and ensure market stability. Instead of developing clear rules to regulate cryptocurrencies, the SEC is pursuing its own interests and the interests of federal employees rather than digital assets. He also called the SEC chairman Author: Gary Gensler incompetent and corrupt.

“And, worse still, it appears to exist only to benefit itself and its federal employees, rather than protect citizens from fraud and abuse, monitor and improve the health of markets, and promote capital-raising organizations.”

Ryan Selkis, CEO and co-founder of Messari

Selkis said the analytics platform is ready to compete with the SEC by using modern technologies to provide high-quality market information.

Messari Data Log

In 2018, Messari had already launched a registry of crypto projects, similar to the SEC EDGAR database. Selkis believes that open blockchains could revolutionize the issuance and settlement of financial assets. Private companies using new technologies are better able to meet public needs, and traditional government regulators are becoming obsolete.

The Messari founder added that investigative journalism is more effective than the SEC’s approach of crushing cryptocurrency firms when fraud is discovered. Selkis noted that Messari has also helped identify many inconsistencies within large cryptocurrency firms.

SEC Fraud

It’s not the first time that Selkis he criticized The Commission. In August 2022, it said that users lost $1 billion in funds in 2021 due to cryptocurrency fraud. However, this figure is less than the number of investors who have lost due to the SEC’s hostile approach to cryptocurrencies.

Selkis admitted that due to the SEC’s bias towards cryptocurrencies, ETF, Greyscale investors suffered losses of $7 billion. The Messari founder believed that Gensler was prioritizing expanding his power over the cryptocurrency industry rather than truly focusing on investor protection.

Cryptocurrency Industry Continues to Slam SEC

Due to its policies, the Commission periodically faces a wave of criticism from cryptocurrency industry participants and American legislators. Thus, at the end of June, Brad Garlinghouse, CEO of Ripplehe harshly criticized the SEC and Gensler.

Garlinghouse noted that the SEC’s current policies regarding the cryptocurrency industry could be a critical factor in Joe Biden’s defeat in the upcoming presidential election in November. The Ripple chief argues that Gensler’s actions have slowed the development of the blockchain industry in the United States and undermined public trust in government institutions.

Garlinghouse particularly highlighted the SEC’s failure to prevent the collapse of the FTX cryptocurrency exchange, which has caused significant damage to investors. At the same time, he said, the Commission is pursuing an aggressive policy against legitimate cryptocurrency companies, initiating legal proceedings against them. According to him, this inconsistency in the regulator’s actions can have serious political consequences.

The Coinbase platform also sued the SEC and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) in the United States District Court for the District of Columbia.

The crypto exchange believes that U.S. regulators are out to disrupt the industry. Representatives of the platform noted that for nearly two years, a wide range of federal financial regulators, including the SEC, FDIC, and the Fed, have used every regulatory tool to do so.

American politicians are unhappy with Gensler

Last year, in the U.S. House of Representatives, the SEC chief faced some of the most significant criticism of the agency’s stance on cryptocurrencies, particularly regarding the recognition Ethereal as a headline, stablecoin regulation and the situation around FTX.

Italian: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DmipafFCli0

House Majority Leader Tom Emmer took the liberty of shouting at the head of the committee, accusing him of deliberately pushing the cryptocurrency industry out of the United States and into the “clutches of the Chinese Communist Party.”

Gensler has also faced criticism from Democrats, who have expressed dissatisfaction with the lack of priority in enforcement actions against offshore companies such as Binance AND Bindthat serve residents of the United States.

Following the meeting, Ohio Republican Representative Warren Davidson of the U.S. House of Representatives decided to introduce a bill that would force Gensler to resign as head of the SEC.

The initiative was launched because Gensler wanted to reconsider the definition of an exchange, which caused a wave of criticism from representatives of the cryptocurrency industry.

How will Messari’s statements affect the SEC?

The Commission has long been accustomed to numerous criticisms from politicians and representatives of the cryptocurrency industry. However, the regulator continues to file lawsuits against cryptocurrency companies. Therefore, the SEC can continue its policy as before, despite Selkis’ statements.

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