Hester Peirce, one of five commissioners on the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commissioner, said in an interview in the Financial Times that overzealous regulation of cryptocurrency in the U.S. could hinder innovation.
âI am concerned that the initial reaction of a regulator is always to say âI want to grab hold of this and make it like the markets I already regulateâ,â Peirce told the FT. âI am not sure thatâs going to be great for innovation.âÂ
Peirce has been a longtime advocate of a calibrated approach in regulating crypto. During CoinDeskâs Consensus21 last month, she said custody rules in the U.S. should be updated to accommodate digital assets .
In the Financial Times interview, Peirce pointed out that self-regulation remains a âpretty effectiveâ way to address digital assets, a comment the FT suggested exposes a split at the top of the SEC, as its new chair, Gary Gensler, looks to tighten regulation of cryptocurrency.
The SEC commissioner also defended what she called the âgamificationâ of capital markets seen earlier this year when retail traders used the Robinhood platform to drive up the price of shares of video-game retailer GameStop â a phenomenon that is under the scrutiny of regulators.
âGamification is not necessarily a bad thing; making financial platforms more user-friendly is not a bad thing,â Peirce said. âPlatforms like this should look like the other platforms in peopleâs lives.âÂ