FOX Business’ Charlie Gasparino discusses the cryptocurrency industry’s effort to block SEC Commissioner Caroline Crenshaw’s second term on ‘The Claman Countdown.’
The crypto industry is mounting a major effort to block the re-election of Securities and Exchange Commissioner Caroline Crenshaw as the Senate Banking Committee prepares to vote on her nomination for a second term at Wall Street’s top regulator.
Crenshaw, a Democrat, was appointed to the commission in 2020 by then-President Trump, and was reappointed by Biden. If he is voted in Wednesday morning by the Banking Committee and confirmed by the full Senate, he will be eligible to serve on the commission until June 2029.
Advocacy against Crenshaw took place publicly on social media with top crypto executives criticizing Crenshaw’s alleged anti-crypto record, warning of future political consequences if lawmakers vote to confirm him. An integrated digital and mobile ad campaign was launched across the Washington DC area and industry advocacy groups sent letters to Senate Banking leaders expressing opposition to his reconfirmation.
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Caroline Crenshaw, nominated to become a member of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC, US, Thursday, July 11, 2024. As the Biden administration’s choice to lead the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp., Christy Gold (Getty Images)
With eight days left before Congress adjourns for the year, Republicans say Crenshaw’s planned vote Wednesday at 9:45 a.m. EDT is a last-ditch effort by Democrats to try to undermine the mandate voters gave Trump and Congress to restore the SEC’s profile. -innovation, a business agenda that includes establishing a regulatory framework for digital assets. Republicans will be in the minority until the next Congress begins in January.
“This 11th-hour push by Democrats to veto President Biden’s nominees is a clear attempt to derail President Trump’s agenda,” Tim Scott, a South Carolina Republican and ranking member of the committee, said in a statement.
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CHARLESTON, SOUTH CAROLINA – FEBRUARY 16: Sen. Tim Scott (R-SC) delivers remarks at the Charleston County Republican Party’s Black History Month Banquet February 16, 2023 in Charleston, South Carolina. Scott talked about growing up in South Carolina d (Photo by Win McNamee/Getty Images/Getty Images)
An issue for crypto investors has been Crenshaw’s support for SEC chairman Gary Gensler’s stronger oversight of the $3 trillion digital asset industry. They also criticized him for characterizing crypto markets as ‘petri dishes of fraudulent behavior,’ and his opposition to the commission’s approval of Wall Street’s bitcoin exchanges.
“Caroline Crenshaw has failed as SEC Commissioner and should be voted out,” said Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong in a post on his X account Friday evening. “He tried to block the Bitcoin ETF and was worse than Gensler on other issues (that I thought were possible).”
In the same post, Armstrong said the crypto community will closely monitor the Senate Banking Committee’s vote, adding that Crenshaw’s support could have a negative impact on the ratings on the highly regarded Stand and Crypto ratings scale, a service created by an advocacy group affiliated with Coinbase. that marks politicians in their support for crypto-friendly legislation.
Such estimates have had political ramifications in the 2024 election year as the political power of the crypto industry has grown with the massive growth in the value of digital assets over the past year providing seed money for campaign contributions. The higher ratio is associated with more campaign money flowing to various crypto super PAC candidates such as Fairshake, while the lower ratios are often translated into PACs spending money on attack ads opposing anti-crypto candidates or endorsing their opponents.
For example, Ohio Democratic Senator Sherrod Brown was targeted for political use of the crypto industry when Fairshake spent $40 million in support of his Republican opponent, Bernie Moreno. Moreno successfully unseated Brown, who has held the seat since 2007.
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Meanwhile, the nonprofit Cedar Innovation Foundation, an industry-backed group that advocates for the development of crypto and blockchain technology, launched a five-figure mobile ad campaign Monday in DC and across social media calling Crenshaw “more anti-crypto . than Gensler,” pointing to his opposition to the bitcoin ETFs that Gensler voted to approve.
On Monday, the CEOs of industry trade groups the Blockchain Association and the DeFi Education Fund wrote a joint letter to the Senate Banking leadership opposing Crenshaw’s reconfirmation.
“Congress has a clear responsibility from the American people to establish sound and reasonable policies related to cryptocurrency,” they wrote. “Unfortunately, Commissioner Crenshaw’s tenure at the SEC has been marked by actions that appear to contradict this case.”
Crenshaw and Gensler’s agreement on progressive regulatory initiatives such as the climate disclosure law, which was intended to force public companies to disclose metrics on their carbon footprint, has also created friction with Republican lawmakers who say the agency under Gensler overstepped its congressional mandate by going into government. social issues such as climate change.
It’s unclear how effective the crypto lobbying effort will be in blocking Crenshaw’s nomination. If all the Democratic members of the Senate Banking Committee show up and vote in his favor Wednesday morning, they will have the majority needed to send him to a full Senate vote.
Chuck Schumer, a New York Democrat who will relinquish his position as Senate Majority Leader to John Thune of South Dakota next year, may hold a full Senate vote on Crenshaw next week amid a continuing resolution to keep the government funded, with $895 billion in defense spending. bill, and voting for many of Biden’s nominees, senate sources tell Fox Business.
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Given everything on the table, it’s unclear whether Schumer will prioritize a vote on Crenshaw’s extension even if he leaves the committee, the sources added.
A spokeswoman for Schumer did not immediately comment.
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