While there are many unanswered questions about how decentralized finance (DeFi) projects should be regulated, U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission Commissioner Hester Peirce recently attempted to bring more clarity to the table in her March 29 interview with Forbes.
The “Crypto Mom” acknowledged that it’s “hard” to define particular rules for DeFi because of how diverse the ecosystem is.
Hence, she advises various projects to reach out to the SEC:
In particular, it's so hard in the DeFi landscape because there’s such variety. This is why I encourage individual projects to come in and talk to the SEC because it really does require a look at the very particular facts and circumstances.
Peirce adds that the SEC needs to provide more clarity about whether or not tokens that are associated with certain projects can be considered to be securities.
Dragging feet on the Bitcoin ETF
In her interview, Peirce reiterated her view that the SEC was long overdue to approve a Bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF):
My view has been that we're overdue on approving one of these things.
While the industry is waiting with bated breath for crypto-savvy Garry Gensler to be confirmed as the next SEC chair, Peirce believes that it makes sense to “manage expectations”:
He's going to have a very busy agenda—much of which will have nothing to do with crypto. So it is important to manage expectations a bit.
Vladislav Sopov
Godfrey Benjamin