Crypto Lobby Targets SEC’s Crenshaw Ahead of Senate Committee Vote

The cryptocurrency industry is mounting a vigorous effort to block the reappointment of Securities and Exchange Commissioner Caroline Crenshaw as the Senate Banking Committee prepares to vote in favor of her appointment to a second term as top Wall regulator. Street.

Crenshaw, a Democrat, was appointed to the commission in 2020 by then-President Trump and reappointed by Biden. If she is voted on by the Banking Committee on Wednesday morning and then confirmed by the full Senate, she will be eligible to serve on the commission until June 2029.

Anti-Crenshaw lobbying is taking place publicly on social media, with top cryptocurrency executives denouncing Crenshaw’s alleged anti-crypto record, warning of future political repercussions if lawmakers vote to confirm her. A coordinated digital and mobile advertising campaign has been launched in the Washington DC area and industry advocacy groups are sending letters to Senate banking leaders expressing opposition to his reconfirmation.

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With just eight days left until Congress adjourns for the year, Republicans say the scheduling of Crenshaw’s vote on Wednesday at 9:45 a.m. EDT is a last-minute effort by Democrats to try to undermine the mandate he Voters gave Trump and Congress to restore the SEC to a professional level. -Innovation and pro-business agenda that includes the establishment of a regulatory framework for digital assets. Republicans will be in the minority until the start of the next Congress in January.

“This last-ditch effort by Democrats to ram through President Biden’s nominees is a blatant attempt to thwart President Trump’s agenda,” Tim Scott, a South Carolina Republican and ranking member of the Senate, said in a statement. committee.

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At stake for cryptocurrency investors has been Crenshaw’s support for SEC Chairman Gary Gensler’s strict oversight of the $3 trillion digital asset industry. They also oppose it over its characterization of crypto markets as “Petri dishes of fraudulent conduct” and their disagreement with the commission’s approval of Wall Street’s spot bitcoin exchange-traded funds.

“Caroline Crenshaw was a failure as SEC Commissioner and should be ousted,” Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong said in a post on his X account on Friday night. “She tried to block Bitcoin ETFs and was worse than Gensler on some issues (which I didn’t think was possible).”

In the same post, Armstrong said the crypto community would closely follow the Senate Banking Committee vote, adding that support for Crenshaw could negatively impact the senators’ ratings in the closely watched stand with Crypto. rating scalea service created by Coinbase-affiliated advocacy group that rates politicians based on their support for pro-cryptocurrency legislation.

These ratings have had political consequences in the 2024 election cycle, as the crypto industry’s political influence has grown with the massive rise in value of digital assets over the past year that provided seed capital for campaign contributions. A high rating has been correlated with higher campaign cash flow for several crypto super PAC candidates like Fairshake, while low ratings often resulted in PACs spending money on attack ads opposing anti-crypto candidates. crypto or back their opponents.

For example, Ohio Democratic Senator Sherrod Brown was targeted for political spending by the crypto industry when Fairshake spent $40 million supporting his Republican opponent, Bernie Moreno. Moreno successfully unseated Brown, who had held office since 2007.

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Meanwhile, the nonprofit Cedar Innovation Foundation, an industry-backed group that advocates for the advancement of crypto and blockchain technology, launched a five-figure mobile advertising campaign in DC and across all platforms on Monday. on social media calling Crenshaw “more anti-crypto.” than Gensler,” noting his opposition to the bitcoin ETFs that Gensler voted to approve.

On Monday, the CEOs of industry trade groups Blockchain Association and DeFi Education Fund wrote a joint letter to Senate banking leaders who oppose Crenshaw’s reconfirmation.

“Congress has a clear mandate from the American people to establish sound and reasonable policies related to cryptocurrencies,” they wrote. “Unfortunately, Commissioner Crenshaw’s tenure at the SEC has been marked by actions that appear at odds with this allegation.”

Crenshaw’s alignment with Gensler on progressive regulatory initiatives like the climate disclosure rule, which aimed to force public companies to disclose metrics about their carbon footprints, has also caused friction with Republican lawmakers who say the agency under Gensler He has overstepped his congressional mandate by venturing into social issues like climate change.

It is unclear how effective the cryptocurrency lobby effort will be in blocking Crenshaw’s nomination. If all Democratic members of the Senate Banking Committee show up and vote in favor of it on Wednesday morning, they will have the majority needed to pass it in a full Senate vote.

Chuck Schumer, the New York Democrat who will cede his role as Senate majority leader to John Thune of South Dakota next year, could hold a full Senate vote for Crenshaw next week amid the finalization of The resolution continues to keep the government’s $895 billion defense spending funded. bill, in addition to voting on a number of Biden’s judicial nominees, Senate sources told Fox Business.

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Given everything on the table, it’s unclear whether Schumer will prioritize a vote on extending Crenshaw’s term even if he makes it out of committee, these sources add.

A Schumer press representative had no immediate comment.