- The Blockchain Association, the DeFi Education Fund, and the CEDAR Innovation Foundation have opposed the renomination of Caroline Crenshaw as an SEC Commissioner.
- Crenshaw was nominated during the Biden administration and has been criticized for her perceived negative stance on cryptocurrencies.
Crypto and blockchain advocacy groups the Blockchain Association and the DeFi Education Fund have written to the U.S. Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs to express their opposition to the reconfirmation of SEC Commissioner Caroline Crenshaw.
The Blockchain Association and the DeFi Education Fund addressed their letter to Senate Banking Committee Chairman Sherrod Brown and Ranking Member Tim Scott.
According to the letter, Crenshaw’s actions over the past four years have, the groups say, undermined Congress’s mandate to establish clear regulatory policy for the cryptocurrency sector.
“Congress has a clear mandate from the American people to set sound and reasonable policies related to cryptocurrencies. Unfortunately, Commissioner Crenshaw’s tenure at the SEC has been marked by actions that appear inconsistent with that charge,” the two organizations wrote in a joint letter.
Last month, SEC Chair Gary Gensler and Commissioner Jaime Lizárraga both announced they will leave the agency in January. Their departures would leave Hester Peirce, Caroline Crenshaw, and Mark Uyeda on the Commission. Crenshaw joined the SEC in 2020, and her term is set to expire in 2024.
Read more: Donald Trump selects pro-crypto Paul Atkins to be the next U.S. SEC chair
CEDAR Innovation Foundation also opposes the renomination
The opposition to Crenshaw’s reconfirmation stems from what critics describe as her alignment with the SEC’s restrictive approach toward cryptocurrencies.
In a notable example, Crenshaw dissented from approving spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds in the U.S., even after the D.C. Circuit Court sharply criticized the SEC for acting “arbitrary and capricious” in denying Grayscale’s proposal to convert its trust into a spot BTC ETF.
In addition to the Blockchain Association and the DeFi Education Fund, the industry-backed CEDAR Innovation Foundation has also voiced opposition to Crenshaw’s renomination. CEDAR has launched an advertising campaign aimed at persuading lawmakers to reject the reconfirmation.
Fox Business reporter Eleanor Terrett shared CEDAR’s planned ads on X. The Senate Banking Committee is scheduled to vote on the nomination on Wednesday. If confirmed, the Democratic nominee would remain on the SEC for another four-year term through 2029.