Crypto Ban Still a Possibility Says US Senate Banking Chair

Sherrod Brown, chairman of the United States Banking Committee, has proposed that the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) think about banning crypto.

While appearing on NBC’s “Meet the Press” on December 18, Brown made the comments. However he also noted that enforcing a crypto ban would be difficult and added: 

“We want them to do what they need to do at the same time, maybe banning it, although banning it is very difficult because it would go offshore, and who knows how that would work.”

In answer to a query about Senator Jon Tester’s opinion that crypto should be barred from circulation, Brown said that he has the “same thought.” 

“I’ve already gone to the Treasury and the Secretary and asked for a government-wide assessment through all the various regulatory agencies,” said the Congressman while adding that “the SEC has been particularly aggressive, and we need to move forward that way and legislatively if it comes to that.” 

He stressed that FTX was “only one huge part of this problem” He claimed cryptocurrencies are “dangerous” and a “threat to national security,” citing their role in facilitating North Korean cybercrime, drug trafficking, human trafficking, and terrorism financing.

To regulate the industry, Brown issued a statement on November 30 calling for a “all-of-government” approach, and on December 13 he praised the U.S. Department of Justice for filing criminal charges against crypto exchange FTX’s former CEO, Sam Bankman-Fried, who is currently in prison in the Bahamas pending extradition to the U.S.

Congressmen Demand Answers from SEC

Notably, on the 17th of December, Congressman Pete Sessions remarked in the Saturday Report that the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) was “asleep at the wheel” when it came to investigating how the FTX Group and its subsidiaries met the requirements for financial and corporate governance. 

The comments by Session came after congressman and attorney Tom Emmer, who represents Minnesota’s 6th congressional district, demanded an explanation from SEC chairman Gary Gensler for his ineffective “crypto information-gathering operations.”