Ramazan Eles 
Robinhood CEO Vlad Tenev has blasted the SEC’s warning to the company over its crypto activities, calling it “unacceptable” that American citizens should be denied access to cryptocurrencies.
The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) this month sent Robinhood a Wells notice, warning that the company’s crypto trading activities may be violating securities laws.
Speaking to CNBC, Tenev said that Robinhood had met with the SEC 16 times before receiving the notice, and that it was “unacceptable” that American citizens should not have access to cryptocurrencies.
Tenev said that Robinhood had tried to work with the SEC to find a way to continue offering crypto trading, but that “it was clear that there was no path forward, and now we’re at this point.”
“The SEC could change the rules to allow brokers to trade crypto assets, but they don’t seem to have any intention of doing that,” Tenev added. “Instead, they’re continuing to regulate through enforcement. That’s a disappointment. I didn’t want to get to this point, but we have to defend ourselves and our customers. We believe that crypto assets are becoming increasingly important, and it’s unacceptable to us that Americans should not have access to them.”