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SEC Commissioner Gives Memecoins the Cold Shoulder Amid $2 Billion in TRUMP Token Losses
- The Commissioner of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Hester Peirce, has argued that memecoins should not fall under the jurisdiction of the SEC.
- Rather, Peirce believes they should be regulated by the CTFC or Congress.
- The interview, which took place on Bloomberg, came just a day after Chainalysis revealed 800 million wallets lost a combined AU $3b on Trump’s memecoin.
The Securities and Exchange Commission has declared memecoins are not under their jurisdiction.
The controversial industry has come under fire recently following the release of Trump Coin just days before Donald Trump’s inauguration as US President.
The token, with high ownership among key Trump Organisation stakeholders, sky-rocketed to over US $70 (AU $111) in its first twenty-four hours of trading.
However, a major sell-off quickly followed and TRUMP plummeted to US $15 (AU $23).
Accusations of insider trading and rug pulls flew in thick and fast – but is this the SEC’s problem?
Related: US SEC Acknowledges Filings for Solana-Based ETFs, Signalling Potential Approval
SEC Palms Off Memecoins to Congress or CTFC
Speaking on a Bloomberg interview this week, SEC Commissioner Hester Peirce was asked whether new memecoins like TRUMP and MELANIA have caused additional work for the regulatory body.
The answer was, relatively simple.
Many of the memecoins that are out there probably do not have a home in the SEC under our current set of regulations.
Hester Peirce, Commissioner of the SEC Some might argue the SEC is effectively wiping their hands clean of some of the crypto industry’s more burning questions. That said, Peirce offered several alternatives that might actually be more effective.
If that’s something that Congress wants to address, they can do that. Maybe that’s something the CFTC wants to address.
Hester Peirce, Commissioner of the SEC Trump Organization Rakes in Trading Fees on Memecoin Launch
Meanwhile, prominent media outlet The New York Times unveiled a report detailing the damage left in the wake of Trump Coin.
The outcome was… not pretty.
According to the NYT, and specifically, data firm Chainalysis, nearly 1 million independent crypto wallets ‘lost’ (on paper) US $2b (AU $3.1b ) investing in TRUMP.
At the same time, deals cut with exchanges to earn trading fees have seen the Trump Organization rake in over US $100m (AU $160m).
I think we have enough data now to definitively say the intersection of crypto and politics can be summed up pretty easily.
‘Sometimes maybe good, sometimes maybe sh%&’.
Author
Ben Knight
Ben Knight is a writer and editor from Melbourne with a passion for all things music and finance. He enjoys turning complex topics – especially the technical details of cryptocurrency – into digestible bites that anybody can understand. He acquired his Master’s in Writing, Editing and Publishing from RMIT in 2019 and has run his own creative writing business ever since.
