Senator Lummis calls SEC’s crypto rules ‘un-American’ in legal brief

Senator Cynthia Lummis challenged SEC’s crypto crackdown, pushing for congressional oversight.
Coinbase expands globally despite the SEC lawsuit, securing a VASP license in Argentina.

In a surprising legal move, U.S. Senator Cynthia Lummis has stepped into the Coinbase vs. SEC battle. She filed an amicus curiae brief in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit.

Lummis is challenging what she calls the SEC’s “legislation-by-enforcement” approach. She criticizes the agency’s regulatory crackdown under the Biden administration.

For context, the case revolves around the SEC’s allegations that Coinbase has been operating an unregistered trading platform, broker, and clearing agency.

Senator takes a jab at the SEC

In her recent brief, Senator Cynthia Lummis argued that the SEC overstepped its authority under former Chair Gary Gensler. She asserted that the SEC’s aggressive stance on crypto regulation contradicted Congress’s intended framework.

She accused the agency of reshaping securities laws to target digital asset platforms without proper legislative backing.

Lummis emphasized that such regulatory overreach undermines the crypto industry and raises concerns about the SEC’s unilateral approach to enforcing policies without congressional approval.

Taking to X (formerly Twitter) she said,

“The SEC’s approach under the Biden administration was to aggressively reinterpret case law governing Howey and investment contracts, keep those interpretations secret, and then demand compliance from digital asset exchanges.”

She added,

“Such an approach is un-American. It is the job of Congress to provide a legislative framework that clearly draws the line between a security and a commodity.”

Further stressing her confidence in Trump’s administration, she added,