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Crypto groups oppose re-nomination of SEC’s Caroline Crenshaw

  • Blockchain Association, DeFi Education Fund and CEDAR Innovation Foundation have all opposed the re-nomination of Caroline Crenshaw as a SEC Commissioner.
  • Crenshaw is a Joe Biden appointee and is criticised for her negative stance on crypto.

Crypto and blockchain advocacy groups Blockchain Association and DeFi Education Fund have written to the U.S. Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs voicing their opposition to the re-confirmation of SEC Commissioner Caroline Crenshaw.

The Blockchain Association and the DeFi Education Fund sent the letter to Senate Banking committee chair Sen. Sherrod Brown and Ranking member Sen. Tim Scott.

According to the letter, Crenshaw’s actions over the past four years have largely undermined Congress’s mandate to establish clear regulatory policies for the crypto industry.

“Congress has a clear mandate from the American people to establish sound and reasonable cryptocurrency-related policies. Unfortunately, Commissioner Crenshaw’s tenure at the SEC has been marked by actions that seem to be at odds with this charge,” the two groups said in a joint letter.

In the past month, SEC chair Gary Gensler and Commissioner Jaime Lizárraga both announced their departures from the agency in January. This leaves Hester Peirce, Caroline Crenshaw, and Mark Uyeda, with Crenshaw having joined in 2020 and seeing her term expire in 2024.

Read more: Donald Trump selects pro-crypto Paul Atkins to be the next US SEC chair

CEDAR Innovation Foundation also opposes the re-nomination

Opposition to Crenshaw’s re-confirmation arises from the fact that she largely aligned with the SEC’s negative approach to crypto. In one significant instance, she dissented on the approval of spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds in the US, even after the DC Circuit Court had slammed the SEC for its “arbitrary and capricious” actions in denying Grayscale’s proposal to list a spot BTC ETF.

Apart from BA and DEF, the other opposition to Crenshaw’s renomination has come from the crypto advocacy group CEDAR Innovation Foundation. The industry-backed group has launched an ad campaign seeking to convince lawmakers to reject the re-confirmation.

Fox Business journalist Eleanor Terrett shared CEDAR’s ad plans on X.

The US Senate Banking Committee will vote on the decision on Wednesday. If approved, the Democrat appointee will continue at the SEC for four more years until 2029.

The post Crypto groups oppose re-nomination of SEC’s Caroline Crenshaw appeared first on CoinJournal.

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El Salvador to change Bitcoin plans to secure $1.3bn IMF loan

  • El Salvador would also receive $1 billion in lending from the World Bank and $1 billion from the Inter-American Development Bank
  • Under the IMF agreement, El Salvador would change a legal requirement making businesses accept Bitcoin as payment
  • Since 2021, the IMF has been against El Salvador’s Bitcoin Law, asking the government to “narrow its scope”

El Salvador is reportedly reducing its Bitcoin ambitions as it gets ready to receive a $1.3 billion loan from the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

The Financial Times reports that the Central American country, which was the first to accept Bitcoin as legal tender in 2021, is expected to reach a deal in the next few weeks with El Salvador’s President Nayib Bukele’s government.

The deal is also expected to unlock a further $1 billion in lending from the World Bank and $1 billion from the Inter-American Development Bank over the next few years.

Under the proposed plans, El Salvador would change a legal requirement making businesses accept Bitcoin as payment, making it optional instead. The government would also reduce the budget deficit by 3.5% of GDP over three years through spending cuts and tax rises while boosting reserves from $11 billion to $15 billion.

IMF against El Salvador’s Bitcoin adoption

Following El Salvador’s adoption of Bitcoin in 2021, the IMF sent a statement in November 2021 “recommend[ing] narrowing the scope of the Bitcoin law” while “strengthening the regulation and supervision of the new payment system.”

This was again called for in January 2022 when the IMF advised El Salvador to reconsider its decision on Bitcoin as the country’s legal tender. More recently, the IMF recommended El Salvador limit the public’s exposure to Bitcoin.

Despite the advisories, El Salvador and its president remain committed to Bitcoin, going on to buy more of the asset during price dips.

With Bitcoin reaching $100,000 last week for the first time, Bukele posted a tweet on X, showcasing its Bitcoin balance was now worth more than $600 million.

The post El Salvador to change Bitcoin plans to secure $1.3bn IMF loan appeared first on CoinJournal.