Crypto must adapt to laws, not the other way around — John Reed Stark

Former SEC official John Reed Stark has criticized claims that the agency is “regulating by enforcement” in a hearing before U.S. Congress.

John Reed Stark, a former Securities and Exchange Commission official, has accused the crypto industry of perpetuating myths to obscure its lack of transparency and accountability, dismissing claims that the agency engages in “regulation by enforcement.”

Stark’s comments were made at a U.S. House Financial Services Committee hearing on May 7. According to the SEC’s former internet enforcement chief, the crypto industry refused to conform to established laws while expecting the legal framework to bend to its needs:

According to Stark, what has been called “regulation by enforcement” within the crypto industry is just the regulator performing its duties. “The rest of us simply call it enforcing the law.”

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