The Commissioner of the Securities Commission and Exchange of the USA (SEC) Esther Pierce compared the regulation of the US crypto with the children’s game “Paul is Lava!”, Only in the dark.

When it comes to working with digital assets and storage of cryptocurrencies, financial companies avoid owning them directly due to obscure regulation rules, Pierce explained. To participate in activities related to cryptocurrencies, persons even registered in the Sec, had to move from one poorly regulated jurisdiction to another, the official said.

“In a game called“ Paul is Lava ”you need to jump from one piece of furniture to another without falling or touching the ground – otherwise you will be burned by an imaginary red -hot lava below. The crypto industry also plays this game, only in the dark: there is a burning legal lava and there are no lamps that illuminate the path, ”said Pierce.

The commissar fears that with this approach of cryptocurrencies, most likely, will not develop, since brokers do not know how to handle assets, and, as a result, cease to promote trade. If investment consultants doubt what crypto acts are securities, what types of organizations are considered qualified castodians, and whether stakeing can violate laws, these consultants will not be able to act in the interests of their customers, Pierce believes.

The SEC Commissioner insists that the department’s approach to the regulation of cryptocurrencies should take into account the differences between different digital assets. For some, it is necessary to use qualified castodial services, and for others a safer option can be independent storage. According to the pier, no regulatory framework should interfere with independent storage or trade in cryptocurrencies without involving third parties. Digital assets were originally created to trading intermediaries, so when developing regulation, this aspect must be taken into account.

In February, SEC announced that memcoirs are not considered securities. Later, the regulator said the same about stablecoins tied to fiat currencies. The working group in cryptocurrencies in the SEC planned several “round tables”, where the regulation of decentralized finance (Defi) and the tokenization of assets will be discussed.