Coinbase Calls for Rule Change: Let SEC Employees Hold Crypto

Paul Grewal, Coinbase’s chief legal officer, requested two letters dated April 25, addressed to OGE acting director Jamieson Greer and new SEC Chair Paul Atkins.

In his letter to Greer, Grewal said, "To regulate technology, you need to understand it. To understand technology, you need to use it". He also explained that allowing SEC employees to hold crypto would help them develop the knowledge required to design proper regulations for the digital asset industry.

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The ban Grewal is challenging comes from Legal Advisory 22-04, issued by the OGE on July 4, 2022, which blocks SEC staff from buying, selling, or using cryptocurrencies and stablecoins.

In a second letter to Atkins and SEC Commissioner Hester Peirce, Grewal made a similar case but focused more specifically on the SEC’s Crypto Task Force. He said the team assigned to work on crypto policy cannot properly do its job without firsthand experience using digital assets.

Although only the OGE can officially remove the restriction, Grewal suggested, "Issuing waivers to crypto task force members and other staff actively working on task force matters would be consistent with measures already taken in commensurate advisory situations".

A waiver would allow those staff members to test and evaluate digital assets without breaking any ethics rules.

Meanwhile, the European Data Protection Board (EDPB) has recently released draft guidelines to align the use of blockchain data with EU privacy laws. What do the guidelines entail? Read the full story.