The U.S Securities and Exchange Commission is reportedly on the hunt for a crypto specialist attorney, who will be tasked with providing more clarity as the agency seeks to navigate the choppy crypto market scene.
So is this a sign that the U.S regulatory body has finally come to terms with the fact that the crypto industry is here to stay? It certainly does not seem so, since despite the agencies’ allocation of resources towards the future of Bitcoin and the blockchain; it is still yet to make any progress with regard to crypto regulatory clarity.
The SEC’s crypto job posting oddly coincides with the regulator’s decision to delay on a pair of Bitcoin ETFs until May. According to the job posting;
“The Crypto Specialist provides expertise and coordinates the Division of Trading and Market’s activities regarding crypto and digital asset securities.”
This will not be a first in the way of an SEC crypto job appointment. So far these crypto hires have been nothing more than a smoke screen given the lack of a clear regulatory framework. The commission may have formed a Fintech working group, and a Digital assets working group, but the agency is not any closer to crafting crypto and blockchain regulation today than it was a year ago.
The incoming crypto specialist will be expected to work closely with both the Fintech working group, and the Digital assets working group, as well as attending industry events. In June 2018, the SEC recruited its own crypto Czar in Valerie A. Szczepanik, as senior adviser for digital assets and innovation; a move that did not help advance the crypto cause in the commission. They agency also has in its ranks Commissioner Hester Peirce, also known as ‘crypto mum’ who has not yet helped advance the cause for clear crypto regulation at least as the results suggest.
The agency’s new hire will report to SEC chairman Jay Clayton and brief him about “salient developments” in the space. The SEC commissioners are currently dealing with one such development in the form of a proposed Bitcoin ETF. The same commissioners postponed a key decision two similar ETF’s this weekend to May with one proposal submitted by Bitwise Asset Management/Arca slated for May 16 while the other ETF proposed by VanEck/SolidX slated for May 21.
One financial publication went on publish an April fool’s joke, stating that the SEC had gone ahead to approve a Bitcoin ETF. While the joke did not go entirely well with a lot crypto enthusiasts, VanEck’s director of digital assets strategy, Gabor Gurbacs, didn’t seem to mind.
Today, April 1st, is April Fools Day. Be careful what you read!!! I am enjoying the #Bitcoin #ETF jokes…wish they were true…🤡 “Don’t trust, verify!” pic.twitter.com/1mVYFMEEkE— Gabor Gurbacs (@gaborgurbacs) April 1, 2019
Crypto hires are on the rise now more than ever, which is quite expected given the rising interest in crypto. Any crypto attorneys out there interested in the SEC position will be delighted to know that the job pays quite well ranging from $144,850 to $238, 787 per year.
Image courtesy of pexels
