Is the US Trying to Kill Crypto-Currency?

upstart writes:

Is the US trying to kill crypto?:

[...] The sector was already under pressure, after prices of virtual currencies collapsed last year. Further damage came from the meltdown of several high-profile firms, including FTX, run by the so-called "Crypto King" Sam Bankman-Fried, whom prosecutors have accused of conducting "one of the biggest financial frauds" in US history.

Jolted by the turmoil, US regulators stepped up their policing of the sector, which authorities say has been on notice since at least 2017 that their activity runs afoul of US financial rules intended to protect investors.

The campaign has yielded a steady drumbeat of charges against crypto firms and executives, alleging violations ranging from failing to register properly with authorities and provide adequate disclosure of their activity to, in some cases, more damaging claims such as mishandling of consumer funds and fraud.

[...] Gary Gensler, the chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission, defended the moves this month, comparing the state of affairs in the industry to the 1920s, before the US put in place many of the rules in question: "Hucksters. Fraudsters. Scam artists. Ponzi schemes. The public left in line at the bankruptcy court."

[...] Critics accuse the SEC under Mr Gensler of hostile "regulation by enforcement" aimed at boosting his own political profile.

[...] Whether the SEC's moves could actually kill the industry - in which by at least one estimate one in every six Americans has invested - is another question.

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