Crypto lobby targets SEC’s Crenshaw ahead of Senate committee vote

The crypto industry is mounting a vigorous effort to block the renomination of Securities and Exchange Commissioner Caroline Crenshaw as the Senate Banking Committee gears up to vote for her appointment to a second term at Wall Street’s top regulator.

Crenshaw, a Democrat, was appointed to the commission in 2020 by then-President Trump, and renominated by Biden. If voted through on Wednesday morning by the Banking Committee and then confirmed by the full Senate, she’ll be eligible to serve on the commission through June 2029.

The anti-Crenshaw lobbying is taking place publicly on social media with top crypto executives denouncing Crenshaw’s alleged anti-crypto record, warning there will be future political repercussions if lawmakers vote to confirm her. A coordinated digital and mobile ad campaign has been launched around the Washington D.C. area and industry advocacy groups are sending letters to Senate Banking leadership expressing opposition to her reconfirmation.

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Caroline Crenshaw, nominee to be a member of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC, US, on Thursday, July 11, 2024. As the Biden administration’s pick to lead the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp., Christy Gold (Getty Images)

With just eight days before Congress adjourns for the year, Republicans say the scheduling of Crenshaw’s vote Wednesday at 9:45am EDT is a last-minute effort by Democrats to try and undermine the mandate voters gave Trump and Congress to restore the SEC to a pro-innovation, pro-business agenda that includes establishing a regulatory framework for digital assets. Republicans will be in the minority until the start of the next Congress in January.

“This 11th hour push by Democrats to ram through President Biden’s nominees is a blatant attempt to hinder President Trump’s agenda,” Tim Scott, the South Carolina Republican and the committee’s ranking member, said in a statement.

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At issue for crypto investors has been Crenshaw’s support of SEC chairman Gary Gensler’s stringent oversight of the $3 trillion digital asset industry. They also oppose her for the characterization of the crypto markets as ‘petri dishes of fraudulent conduct,’ and her dissent from the commission’s approval of Wall Street’s bitcoin spot exchange-traded funds. 

“Caroline Crenshaw was a failure as…