Deniz 
Top Republican legislators say they want unambiguous answers on how the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) sees airdrops in the cryptocurrency sector.
In a letter issued to its Chair Gary Gensler on Tuesday, North Carolina’s Patrick McHenry from the House Financial Services Committee and Minnesota’s House Majority Whip Tom Emmer accused the SEC of “putting its thumb on the scale.”.
“The SEC is thumbing the scale and precluding American citizens from shaping the next iteration of the internet by creating a hostile regulatory environment, including assertions about airdrops in various cases and increasing warnings for additional enforcement actions,” they wrote.
Airdrops allow some crypto firms to release free tokens into digital asset wallets.
Legislators noted instances whereby the SEC handled airdrops, like its case against Justin Sun, founder of Tron. In a footnote on its 2019 “Framework for ‘Investment Contract’ Analysis of Digital Assets,” the agency claimed airdrops might be regarded as a “sale or distribution of securities.” Emmer and McHenry claim that developers “have been forced to block Americans” from getting crypto in an airdrop.
“By forbading Americans from engaging in airdrops, the SEC is preventing crypto users from fully realizing the benefits of blockchain technology,” Emmer and McHenry wrote.
The pair asked Gensler a number of questions, including how the agency intends to differentiate credit card points or airline miles from airdrops. They stated they expect an answer from Gensler by September 30. The SEC did not react right away to a request for remarks.
Over years, McHenry and Emmer have attacked Gensler for his handling of crypto regulation. Most cryptocurrencies, according to Gensler, are securities; he has urged crypto platforms to register with the agency since. McHenry and Emmer have meanwhile spearheaded efforts to enact a crypto market structure bill in the House, dividing control of cryptocurrencies between the SEC and providing the Commodity Futures Trading Commission new authority.
The letter highlights the SEC and bitcoin since the House Financial Services Committee intends to hold some hearings during the next week. Legislators will convene a hearing on Wednesday, “Dazed and Confused: Breaking Down the SEC’s Politicized Approach to Digital Assets,” and another next week on agency supervision. Sept. 24 will see attendance by all five commissioners at the hearing.
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