The CEO of Tesla said in a recent interview that US regulators should just let cryptocurrencies be.

In the latest news from the Dogefather himself, Elon Musk said that regulators should practice a more hands-off approach to controlling cryptocurrencies. In an interview at the Code Conference in Los Angeles, Musk was asked by the New York Times what, if anything, the government should be doing to regulate crypto.

Musk responded by stating, “I would say, do nothing. Just let it fly.” He added that while it was “not possible” for the government to destroy the cryptocurrency industry “it is possible for governments to slow down its advancement.”

The SEC has a different opinion

During the course of the same conference, the chair of the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Gary Gensler digital currencies could be considered securities down the road. If that happens, they would be subject to the same regulations as other securities along with other crypto-specific additions.

These comments are just the latest from Gensler who is looking to push back against the “Wild West” market for cryptocurrency as it currently stands. Gensler believes that if digital assets and exchanges are not regulated, they run the risk of losing public trust.

During a recent interview with former federal prosecutor Preet Bharara, Gensler expanded on his concerns surrounding digital currencies. Specifically, the need to regulate. “To think that a field that’s grown 10-fold in the last 18 months—not just in terms of asset value, but in the underlying lending and much more — that it’s going to stay outside of these public policy frameworks and succeed, We’ll end up with a problem and a lot of people will be hurt,” stated the SEC chair.

Gensler is among a growing number of individuals within the US government who believe tighter restrictions and scrutiny are how to best proceed with cryptocurrency. The idea is that by giving investors clarity and protections, they will be keener to invest and feel safer in doing so.

One o those other individuals who are pushing for crypto regulations is Senator Elizabeth Warren. Gensler previously reached out to Warren asking for regulatory support in August 2021. The Senator from Massachusetts has been a vocal critic of the cryptocurrency industry, even referring to it as the “new shadow bank,” and saying “it provides many of the same services, but without the consumer protections or financial stability that back up the traditional system.”

Gensler and Warren believe that the government should be given clear powers to write regulations for exchanges and the crypto industry operating within the United States.”

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