Elon Musk’s D.O.G.E. to Investigate SEC Despite Pro-Crypto Policy Shifts

Elon Musk’s D.O.G.E. is investigating the SEC, seeking input about “waste, fraud, and abuse” at the Commission. This may become an own goal for the crypto industry, which defeated Gary Gensler and turned the SEC into a useful ally.

Hester “Crypto Mom” Peirce claimed that skilled personnel are necessary to enact pro-crypto policy, but not everyone agrees. Coinbase’s CLO has already proposed harsh punitive measures against the Commission.

Will D.O.G.E. Attack the SEC?

Since Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency (D.O.G.E.) first took off, it’s had a notable impact on the US regulatory apparatus. In addition to crypto-friendly experiments, Musk has been instituting mass layoffs at all layers of the federal government.

According to a recent post, D.O.G.E. is now taking aim at the SEC:

“D.O.G.E. is seeking help from the public! Please DM this account with insights on finding and fixing waste, fraud and abuse relating to the Securities and Exchange Commission,” the account claimed.

In other words, D.O.G.E. may be planning to institute similar huge cuts at the SEC. Musk’s efforts to purge the federal government of inefficiency have yielded pushback from some sectors and caused mistakes in others, but his campaigns have continued nonetheless.

However, the Commission may find help an unlikely ally: the crypto industry itself.

Although it took years of fighting to get former Chair Gary Gensler out of the SEC, he isn’t coming back. Since President Trump heralded a new wave of pro-crypto sentiment, the Commission has done a lot for crypto.

It’s abandoning its enforcement capabilities, dropping lawsuits, consulting the industry for policies, considering new ETFs, and more.

The Commission as a Crypto Ally

In other words, the crypto industry had to fight long and hard to turn Gary Gensler’s Commission into an industry ally. If D.O.G.E. were to destroy the SEC, wouldn’t that be an unfortunate own goal?

Hester “Crypto Mom” Peirce, leader of the new Crypto Task Force, recently gave an interview where she fiercely opposed SEC cuts.

“We have a lot of really fantastic people at the SEC, who are doing really important work. One thing to remember is that capital markets in the US are not very only large, but also very important, the most important in the world! There’s always more we can do. It’s a question of getting the balance right, using the resources that we have,” Peirce claimed.

All that is to say the Commission can be a powerful tool for the crypto industry, but it needs skilled personnel to actually enact pro-crypto policy. If D.O.G.E. tries to destroy the SEC, it may end up spiking a useful ally.

Even if Musk wants a total lack of regulation for the crypto industry, it will be impossible and even politically dangerous to maintain that status quo forever.

Of course, not everyone in the crypto industry sees it that way. Paul Grewal, CLO of Coinbase, has developed a hardened view after years of legal battles.

In a social media post, he said that D.O.G.E. should compel the SEC to pay defendants’ legal fees in failed enforcement actions. This would involve direct payouts for Grewal personally, and possibly breed future hostility.

Overall, this is a highly contentious issue. It is presently unclear what strategy D.O.G.E. will pursue with the SEC or which industry figures will speak out on the subject.

However, community nostalgia is building for Gary Gensler, who actively fought against the now-flourishing culture of crypto scams. It seems likely that some parts of the community will defend the SEC.

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