The SEC has been leading the campaign to regulate cryptocurrency trading and will now have, Valerie A. Szczepanik as its new Senior Advisor for Digital Assets and Innovation.
The new appointee currently heads the SEC’s Distributed Ledger Technology Working Group. She is a co-head of the Dark Web Working Group and also a member of the FinTech Working Group.
There were few people who had the credentials to fill in the formerly vacant role at SEC and the body’s head, Jay Clinton, expressed delight at having Ms. Valerie on board.
“Valerie’s thought leadership in this area is recognized both within the Commission and across financial regulators in the United States and abroad. Val is the right person to coordinate our efforts in this” Jay said.
Emerging digital asset technologies and innovations, including Initial Coin Offerings (ICOs) and cryptocurrencies, will come under her watch with SEC actively looking to enact laws that will support the growth of the booming US crypto market. Over 8% of the entire population has crypto assets.
Protecting investors from fraudulent ICOs and spotting tokens such as Ripples (XRP) that has come under fire as an “unregistered security” will be on top of the checklist.
Ms. Valerie pledged to use her new role to “facilitate capital formation, promote fair, orderly, and efficient markets, and protect investors, particularly Main Street investors.”
A Win-Win For Everyone
With the US pushing to implement more regulations in the cryptomarket, the appointment of Ms. Valerie will be a massive boost given her past experiences in the securities and fintech industry.
For traditional investors, a lack of regulations has been an excuse for not trading digital assets. That could change soon.
On the one hand, the crypto community in the US will be pleased to finally have at the helm of affairs, someone who perfectly understands the blockchain and cryptocurrency ecosystem.
How the new relationship paves the way for a secure and hitch-free crypto market in the United States should be a joy to watch for everyone.
New ideas, new aspirations, new avenues and maybe a full innovation of the blockchain and cryptocurrency sector in the US.
