Crypto exchange execs to face Congress for the first time as the SEC pushes registration

The agency responsible for regulatory oversight of financial markets - the Security and Exchange Commission (SEC) - will apparently be sharpening its focus on digital assets regulation. The current SEC chairman Gary Gensler again called for increased scrutiny of cryptocurrency exchanges shortly after the Fed announced a "crypto sprint" roadmap that effectively postpones major regulatory decisions for 2022. On Wednesday, Gensler asked that crypto trading platforms be required to register with the SEC to minimize fraud and increase regulatory compliance. Speaking at the ongoing Digital Asset Compliance & Market Integrity Summit organized by crypto exchanges, the SEC's Chair beckoned:

Work with us. These platforms need to come in get registered, come within the investor protection remit.

Gensler has been calling the trade in digital assets the "Wild West" of finance since he got elected back in April and has been particularly harsh on the exchanges where crypto trades. All this renewed regulatory push by the government may have forced Congress to act and ask cryptocurrency exchange executives to testify before the US House Financial Services Committee. The hybrid hearing will take place on December 8 at 10 am Eastern, with the Coinbase CEO summoned to appear as a witness alongside five other crypto platform execs:

• Jeremy Allaire, CEO, Circle
• Sam Bankman-Fried, CEO, FTX
• Brian Brooks, CEO, Bitfury
• Chad Cascarilla, CEO, Paxos
• Denelle Dixon, CEO, Stellar Development Foundation
• Alesia Haas, CEO, Coinbase Inc. and CFO, Coinbase Global Inc.

The event marks the first time cryptocurrency exchange representatives will be appearing before Congress. The aptly named "Digital Assets and the Future of Finance: Understanding the Challenges and Benefits of Financial Innovation in the United States" hearing is an initiative of Congresswoman Maxine Waters (D-CA), the Chairwoman of the House Committee on Financial Services.

You can watch the first cryptocurrency exchange execs Congressional testimony in the video below; the live stream will be starting today, December 8, at 10 am Eastern/7 am Pacific time for the early bird crypto regulation aficionados.

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