What impact would SEC Commissioner Caroline Crenshaw have on the crypto industry?
Gxstocks' Charlie Gasparino discusses the cryptocurrency industry's effort to block a second term for SEC Commissioner Caroline Crenshaw on 'The Claman Countdown.'
The Senate Banking Committee has scrapped a vote to advance the renomination of Democrat and crypto-skeptic Securities and Exchange Commissioner Caroline Crenshaw to another term as Wall Street's top officer.
The move comes after an intense lobbying effort by major players in the crypto industry to convince Senate Democrats to block President Biden’s renomination of Crenshaw to another five-year term.
The Senate Banking Committee – still controlled by the Democrats until the next Congress starts in January – was scheduled to vote Wednesday morning on advancing her nomination to the full Senate, but the markup was shelved due to limited floor time available before the Congressional session ends Thursday, according to a committee aide.
CRYPTO LOBBY TARGETS SEC'S CRENSHAW AHEAD OF SENATE COMMITTEE VOTE
Caroline Crenshaw, nominee to be a member of the Securities and Exchange Commission, speaks during a Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee nomination hearing in Washington, D.C., on July 11, 2024. (Ting Shen/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
The cancellation will effectively end Crenshaw’s tenure at the commission unless President-elect Donald Trump chooses to renominate her when he takes office on Jan. 20. However, it would be highly unlikely for the crypto-friendly president-elect to nominate someone seen as part of the Biden regulatory apparatus that unleashed a massive crackdown on the $3 trillion digital asset industry – an industry that helped him get elected. Ironically, Trump, who must name two people from outside his own party to fill the minority seats, put up Crenshaw during his first term as president.
Crenshaw could not be reached for comment, and an SEC spokesman declined comment.
The effort to oust Crenshaw was yet another test of the crypto industry’s political clout. During the 2024 presidential campaign, Trump actively courted crypto voters – some 50 million strong – touting his ability to end the Biden-era regulatory stronghold. In return, he received millions from industry stalwarts like the Winklevoss brothers, while industry-backed super PACs spent over $130 million to pack Congress with pro-crypto candidates.
President-elect Donald Trump gestures at the Bitcoin 2024 event in Nashville, Tennessee, on July 27, 2024. (Reuters/Kevin Wurm/File Photo / Reuters Photos)
This time, through social media posts, letters to senators and even a mobile advertising campaign, the industry's message to politicians was clear; a vote for Crenshaw would come with political repercussions. The threat was taken seriously and resulted in last week's vote being rescheduled for Wednesday morning after Senate Republicans blocked Banking Committee Chairman Sherrod Brown's efforts to hold a special off-the-floor committee vote on Crenshaw and Biden’s Financial Stability Oversight Council nominee Gordon Ito outside of normal Senate hours.
Some Democrats are taking umbrage at big crypto’s political clout. Amid the attempts by crypto-friendly Republican senators, like committee ranking member Tim Scott, to block the vote, Brown said, "This is why people hate Washington. Corporate special interests have run a disgusting smear campaign against Caroline Crenshaw, an Army reservist and public servant who has been nominated and confirmed by a Republican President and Republican Senate."
Brown, an Ohio Democrat who was himself a target of the crypto lobby’s political spending due to his perceived anti-crypto stance, lost the seat he had held since 2007 to Republican challenger Bernie Moreno, who the industry backed to the tune of $40 million.
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Chairman Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, speaks on Capitol Hill during a Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee hearing in Washington, D.C., on Nov. 18, 2021. (JIM WATSON/AFP via Getty Images / Getty Images)
Crenshaw will likely serve out her term until the new Republican-controlled Senate confirms her replacement next year. It is unclear which candidates Trump will choose to fill the non-Republican seats on the commission, but congressional tradition allows the minority party to recommend nominees, although the president is not obligated to take their suggestions.
Meanwhile, the crypto industry is wasting no time in floating names to the Trump transition team of pro-crypto Democrats they would like to see take up the roles. One name being discussed, according to an industry source at one of the crypto advocacy groups who wished to remain anonymous, is Georgetown law professor Chris Brummer. A Democrat, Brummer’s name was floated as a possible SEC chair if Vice President Kamala Harris had won the White House.
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Brummer is an avid supporter of digital assets and blockchain and runs the annual Washington, D.C., Fintech Week attended by many industry participants. Another is Jai Messai, the chief legal officer of blockchain payments company Lightspark and a former partner at white-shoe law firm Davis Polk & Wardwell. TuongVy Le, general counsel for crypto bank Anchorage Digital, is also an industry favorite. Prior to her work in crypto law, Le served at the SEC for six years as senior counsel in the Division of Enforcement and, later, as chief counsel in the Office of Legislative and Intergovernmental Affairs. SEC alum and special advisor to the Research and Innovation Division of the New York Department of Financial Services, Carla Carriveau, is also a front-runner.
