Kevin O’Leary Says The U.S. Is Behind On Crypto Regulations

• O’Leary believes the U.S. needs to do more with crypto regulation.
• He thinks mass adoption is on the horizon but says reasonable regulations must come first. 
• The SEC remains at odds with the nascent market.

Investor and T.V. personality Kevin O’Leary has said the U.S. is behind the competition in crypto regulation. The statement comes as the industry locks horns with the U.S. SEC again.

The U.S. Has To Play Catch Up

Kevin O’Leary, aka Mr. Wonderful, speaking to Yahoo Finance Live, has said that while there is progress in the fact that the Biden administration is talking more about crypto regulation, the U.S. remains behind its neighbors and competitors. According to O’Leary, mass adoption and rapid innovation will only be seen with reasonable regulations.

O’Leary noted that investors in the U.S. cannot access a broad range of crypto products already available in other climes due to regulatory ambiguity. In comparison, Canada, the U.S. neighbor in the North, has already approved Bitcoin and Ethereum ETFs, while the U.S. SEC continues to reject spot ETF applications.

“There’s so much innovation going on in different geographies with regulators at different stages of releasing policy on this, that we have fallen behind in the U.S.,” said O’Leary.

Currently, the hindrance to mass adoption is no longer a lack of institutional interest but regulatory uncertainty. As reported by ZyCrypto, there is a huge demand for crypto products by financial advisors in the States and an interest to gain broader exposure through an index fund.

If O’Leary’s prediction of blockchain and crypto companies included in the S&P 500 comes true in the future, these investors may very well get their wish. However, at the moment, despite Biden’s executive order last month, little has been done in the way of clarifying the duties of various government agencies in the regulation of the crypto market, as skirmishes with the SEC continue.

Industry Concerns And Current Tussles With The SEC

Gary Gensler’s led SEC continues to deny spot Bitcoin ETFs and products like Coinbase Lend available in other countries. The U.S. SEC has not had the most thrilling relationship with the crypto industry, and it doesn’t appear that this is changing.

While pundits had expressed hope that a Bitcoin spot ETF might be on the horizon with an expected rule change that expands the definition of what the SEC would recognize as an exchange, industry participants are not impressed with the proposed rule change. Recent reports have revealed that crypto lobbyists are kicking against the rule change, which they believe will give the SEC too much oversight of crypto companies without identifying the problems the rule change would solve.

The crypto industry at the moment is hoping that the CFTC, which they believe has more understanding of the industry, is given more power in crypto regulation. However, regulators are yet to decide what digital assets would be considered commodities or securities.