The Securities & Exchange Commission (SEC) needs additional powers to regulate the cryptocurrency arena—specifically, to "prevent transactions, products, and platforms from falling between regulatory cracks," SEC Chairman Gary Gensler told Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass. in a recent letter. He added that the SEC also needs "more resources to protect investors in this growing and volatile sector."

"In my view, the legislative priority" should center on crypto trading, lending, and centralized and decentralized finance, or DeFi, platforms, Gensler said.

Gensler was responding to a July 7 letter from Warren, in which she asked if Congress needs to act to give the SEC "the proper authority to close existing gaps in regulation that leave investors and consumers vulnerable to dangers" in the highly opaque and volatile digital assets market.

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Melanie Waddell

Melanie is senior editor and Washington bureau chief of ThinkAdvisor. Her ThinkAdvisor coverage zeros in on how politics, policy, legislation and regulations affect the investment advisory space. Melanie’s coverage has been cited in various lawmakers’ reports, letters and bills, and in the Labor Department’s fiduciary rule in 2024. In 2019, Melanie received an Honorable Mention, Range of Work by a Single Author award from @Folio. Melanie joined Investment Advisor magazine as New York bureau chief in 2000. She has been a columnist since 2002. She started her career in Washington in 1994, covering financial issues at American Banker. Since 1997, Melanie has been covering investment-related issues, holding senior editorial positions at American Banker publications in both Washington and New York. Briefly, she was content chief for Internet Capital Group’s EFinancialWorld in New York and wrote freelance articles for Institutional Investor. Melanie holds a bachelor’s degree in English from Towson University. She interned at The Baltimore Sun and its suburban edition.  

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