U.S. Senator Cynthia Lummis has submitted an amicus curiae brief to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit in the case of Coinbase v. Securities and Exchange Commission. The filing, made on January 24, 2025, challenges what Lummis describes as a “failed legislation-by-enforcement strategy” by the SEC under former Chair Gary Gensler and the Biden Administration.
Senator Lummis criticized the SEC’s method of enforcing regulations, stating, “The SEC’s approach under the Biden administration was to aggressively reinterpret case law governing Howey and investment contracts, keep those interpretations secret, and then demand compliance from digital asset exchanges.” She emphasized that this strategy is “un-American” and asserted that it is Congress’s responsibility to establish a clear legislative framework distinguishing between securities and commodities.
The brief aims to address concerns regarding regulatory clarity in digital asset markets.
