SEC Commissioner Hester Peirce has labelled the regulator’s approach to crypto “not a good way of regulating” and says it has treated the sector “differently”. As a result, she says, “people have given up on us because we haven’t taken those steps to work in good faith”.

The comments will cause a stir, not least at the SEC, whose chair, Gary Gensler, has insisted the sector is treated no differently to any other. Peirce, however, told crypto news website Decrypt in a hard-hitting interview that the SEC is taking a different approach and that “What drove this initially was the feeling that crypto probably wouldn’t stay around”.

Healthy conversation

She contrasted the “healthy conversation” the regulator has with businesses in other sectors with what happens in the crypto sector, echoing comments made by industry figures such as Mark Cuban.

“If you’re going to tell people to come in, people need to see people walking in the front door and coming out again, holding an exemptive order or something that allows them to move forward with their business and allows us to achieve our regulatory objectives,” she told the website.

Dropped the ball

It’s not the first time Peirce has been critical of the SEC’s role in the sector, telling CNBC earlier this year that it had “dropped the ball” over regulation.

Peirce was nominated for the Republican seat under Barack Obama’s administration and was renominated by Donald Trump, and has been a prominent critic of the expansion of regulation following the financial crisis of 2008, arguing that markets cannot be improved by what she sees as regulatory micromanagement.