U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Commissioner Hester Peirce says Americans should have the freedom to speculate on whatever assets they choose.
In a new interview with CNBC, Peirce says that as an American regulator it is not her job to tell people what they can or cannot buy or speculate on.
“I think people speculate on a lot of different things, especially in low interest rate environments. People speculate about many things. It is not my job as a regulator to tell people what they can and cannot buy and what they can and cannot speculate about.”
According to the SEC commissioner, speculation is one of the driving forces behind the American economy. Peirce says the role of regulators is to provide a framework, which should not be mistaken as a “seal of approval” for the assets in question.
“Speculation is what makes our markets work. I encourage everyone to be skeptical of everything they buy. So if you are interested in crypto and are considering buying a crypto asset, you need to ask a lot of questions and try to find out what the purpose of a particular crypto asset is. That’s fine.
But the idea that by providing people with a regulatory framework we are providing a regulatory seal of approval is the wrong way to think about things. We at the SEC are charged with being disclosure regulators. So when we are tasked with writing asset disclosure rules, that is not a seal of approval.”
Peirce has previously been critical of the SEC’s enforcement agenda focused on the crypto space. In August, she and Commissioner Mark Uyeda took issue with the SEC’s enforcement actions against media company Impact Theory’s non-fungible token (NFT) sales.
Says the commissioners,
“The handful of company and buyer representations cited in the order are not the types of promises that are part of an investment contract. We do not routinely take enforcement action against people who sell watches, paintings or collectibles along with vague promises to build the brand and thus increase the resale value of those tangible items.”
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