Gensler and SEC Commissioners to Be Grilled by Congress

According to Fox Business reporter Eleanor Terrett, all of the five SEC commissioners are on track to testify before the U.S. House Committee on Financial Services next Tuesday. 

This will mark the first time that all of the commissioners will have to testify for the first time since 2019. Back then, the SEC was helmed by Jay Clayton. 

In 2019, cryptocurrencies ended up being part of the SEC's testimony. Back then, the agency stated that digital assets and initial coin offerings (ICOs) emerged as a new area that required interdivisional focus. It stressed that it was striving to find the middle ground between fostering innovation and protecting investors. 

Gary Gensler, the current SEC boss, is on track to testify next Wednesday. 

Genser has, of course, attracted plenty of criticism from cryptocurrency industry leaders as well as some crypto-friendly lawmakers over the SEC's aggressive "regulation by enforcement" approach. Under Gensler's watch, the SEC has been aggressively targeting some of the biggest crypto companies, including Coinbase and Binance. Various crypto executives, including Ripple CEO Garlinghouse, believe that such an approach to crypto regulation hurts innovation in the US while pushing companies to relocate to friendlier jurisdictions.   

Earlier this year, Gensler was grilled by the House Financial Services Committee over its refusal to provide investors with some semblance of clarity regarding the legal status of Ether. Rep. Patrick McHenry went as far as accusing Gensler of misleading Congress. 

Republican lawmakers also recently launched an investigation into Gensler over alleged misappropriation of funds.