Matt Levine, one of the most prominent Bloomberg columnists, recently wrote a new op-ed, in which he argues that outright banning crypto is no longer feasible for the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). 

"That ship has sailed"

Levine claims that crypto has now become far too influential to outlaw it in the U.S. despite the fact that there is "lots of dumb stuff" happening within the sector.

At the same time, ignoring the budding industry is also not a feasible option for the SEC.

Former SEC Chair Gary Gensler was known for his hostile stance toward crypto, viewing the majority of tokens as securities that have to be registered as stocks. Since such registration is almost impossible, such a view essentially makes crypto illegal in the U.S. 

Levine finds Gensler's view annoying since it ignores the fact that there are some experimental as well as noncorporate projects.  

Right approach

The dual nature of crypto, which is supposed to serve as both a useful tool and an investment vehicle, creates a lot of regulatory confusion. 

Levine argues that the SEC is the best agency to regulate crypto, given that many tokens are securities-like. 

However, existing protections for securities should be tailored, given that digital assets are not exactly the same thing as stocks. Chair Paul Atkins has hinted that the SEC would make it possible to register various cryptocurrencies, which Levine believes is the correct approach.As reported by U.Today, Atkinks recently announced the "Project Crypto" initiative, which is meant to make digital asset regulation more efficient.  

The current SEC chair has also clarified that the majority of crypto tokens are not securities.