Kraken CEO Calls on Congress to Protect US Crypto Industry Following Settlement With SEC Over Staking Program

Kraken CEO Jesse Powell has called on Congress to pass legislation to protect the U.S. crypto industry after the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) took action against its trading platform over its cryptocurrency staking service.

Kraken CEO responds to SEC action

Kraken CEO Jesse Powell called on Congress to pass legislation to protect the domestic crypto industry on Thursday after the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) accused its crypto trading platform of betting services.

Kraken Boss tweeted:

Congress must take action to protect the domestic crypto industry and US consumers who will now be moving overseas to receive services no longer available in the US.

Within settlement Together with the securities regulator, Kraken has agreed to terminate its cryptocurrency staking program for U.S. customers and pay $30 million in debt settlement, prejudgmental interest and civil penalties.

kraken refined in a blog post on Thursday:

Staking services for customers outside the US will continue to operate without interruption. Customers outside of the US can continue to wager and withdraw assets, and automatically receive and wager rewards as usual.

Following a securities oversight enforcement action regarding the Kraken staking program, SEC Commissioner Hester Pierce issued statement disagreeing and disagreeing with her agency’s actions. “A paternalistic and lazy regulator chooses a solution similar to what was in this agreement: do not initiate a public process to develop a workable registration process that provides investors with valuable information, just shut it down,” she wrote.

Responding to Commissioner Pierce’s statement, Powell tweeted: “Some advice would be appreciated.” He added that the SEC’s approach is: “It’s wrong, but I won’t tell you how to do it right. Want to know if X works? Try it and see what happens” will not help either the crypto industry or consumers. “We are not opposed to regulation, but we need a clear path to work,” he stressed.

In a subsequent tweet, a Kraken executive opined:

I sincerely hope that someone will prove in court that there is a legal and convenient version of custodial staking that can be offered to US consumers. It will be a fierce, long, expensive battle and a huge distraction, but the industry and the US will be extremely grateful.

What do you think about the SEC running crypto staking programs on exchanges? Let us know in the comments below.