Blockchain Association says SEC has cost crypto industry $400 million since Gensler became chair

The Blockchain Association's member firms say they have spent $400 million on costs associated with enforcement actions brought by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission under Chair Gary Gensler.

The advocacy group, with global markets research company HarrisX, released that figure on Thursday and other survey results on how U.S. voters view the SEC and crypto. 

"According to self-reported figures collected, anonymized, and aggregated by HarrisX, the U.S. digital asset industry has spent more than 400 million dollars defending itself against Chair Gensler’s SEC, with untold losses of jobs, innovation, and U.S. investment," the Blockchain Association said in a statement.

The advocacy group said the $400 million figure is a "small slice of the industry," given that it's from a sample of Blockchain Association members. The group's members include Ripple, Coinbase, Crypto.com, Grayscale and Kraken, among others. 

SEC's Gensler started his chairmanship in April 2021 and has since asserted that most cryptocurrencies are securities and has said that crypto firms need to register and follow the agency's rules. The SEC has brought a number of cases against big firms over the years, including Coinbase, Kraken and others. Another agency, the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigations, recently released a report that found a 45% uptick last year in losses tied to crypto since 2022. 

Some in the crypto industry have fought back, saying that it's not possible to register with the agency, in part because rules were made for more traditional entities that are different from the digital asset industry. Some crypto firms have also recently brought their own cases against the agency. 

On Thursday, Coinbase Chief Legal Officer Paul Grewal posted the advocacy group's survey on X. 

"Those dollars are yours," Grewal added. "Mine. All of ours. Think about that when you punch your clock. Think about that when you fill out your tax forms. And definitely think about that when you vote." 

Survey results 

The Blockchain Association and HarrisX also conducted an online poll on crypto regulation and enforcement from Oct. 25 to 28 this year, polling 1,717 registered voters nationally. 

The survey found that two-thirds of voters believe the SEC "should wait for clearer guidelines from Congress." Lawmakers in Washington are working on bills that would regulate the crypto industry at large and specifically write rules for stablecoins, but they have not become law yet. 

Voters also came to the conclusion that no one party "owns digital assets or cryptocurrency as an election issue," according to the survey. 

"Voters are divided on which political party is more likely to support innovation in digital assets, with voters split between the GOP (34%) over Democrats (32%)," they said. 

An SEC spokesperson pointed to costs endured by investors.

"The costs to investors from fraud and other abuses in the crypto markets far exceed the costs paid by crypto firms to defend their noncompliance with the securities laws," the spokesperson said in an emailed statement to The Block. 

Update: Oct. 31, 8:10 p.m. UTC to include details throughout 

Update: Oct. 31, 8:40 p.m. UTC to include comments from the SEC