The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) will hold a panel discussion on December 2 to discuss cryptocurrencies and digital asset matters. The commission announced that the main agenda for the upcoming panel discussion will be, “Helping to Ensure Investor Protection and Market Integrity in the Face of New Technologies”.
During the discussion, the panel will focus on the relationship between digital assets and investor protection, the commission’s main mandate. The panel will look into the crypto regulatory framework covering market structure issues, digital assets and risks within the emerging technologies. The discussion will also involve looking into underlying risks of emerging technologies like blockchain, stablecoins and crypto-based ETFs.
The commission had already announced the meeting would be open to the general public, with moderators and panellists attending remotely.
The second session of the meeting will focus on SEC’s Potential Role in Addressing Elder Financial Abuse Issues. As a new form of technology, elders are some of the most vulnerable when it comes to crypto-financial scams and other issues. The panel will look at the possible abuse and how to mitigate it. To conclude, there will be a discussion on the recommendations regarding individual retirement accounts.
The SEC has done fantastic work in selecting panellists given half of them are blockchain experts. The other half are luminary law professors and financial market experts. The blockchain-focused panellists include;
- Ali Emdad, Professor and Associate Dean, Earl G. Graves School of Business and Management at Morgan State University, and Founding Director of the Center for the Study of Blockchain and Financial Technology.
- Tyrone Ross, CEO, Onramp Invest
- Sydney Schaub, Chief Legal Officer, General Counsel and Corporate Secretary, Gemini
- Kristin Smith, Executive Director, The Blockchain Association, a company that advocates for further adoption and development of blockchain networks through education to government institutions and advocacy with financial regulatory commissions like SEC.
What does the SEC open meeting mean for the crypto community?
The crypto market is yet to react to the SEC meeting. However, it provides the ideal platform for different crypto concerns to be addressed.
First, with blockchain experts forming half of the panellists, the discussion will most likely involve most of the concerns of the crypto community. With financial experts and professionals also involved, there will likely be more clarity on the relationship between digital currencies and how they interact with the economy.
The meeting is open to the public, which will allow individuals to seek clarification on different pressing crypto matters. One of the issues that will most likely come up is ETF regulations. A few months ago, the commission had allowed the first ETF in the US to start trading. However, it came as a surprise when it then denied VanEck’s spot ETF proposal. This will be the best opportunity for the commission to clarify what it looks for in ETF proposals.
The meeting will begin at 10.00 am EST and will be a webcast on the official SEC website.
