Tyler Winklevoss, co-founder of the Gemini cryptocurrency exchange, has criticized President Joe Biden’s administration for its reluctance to engage with the crypto industry.
In a post on social media platform X, Winklevoss accused the US government of failing to engage with the crypto sector in good faith while highlighting he and his brother Cameron Winklevoss’s exclusion from a crypto roundtable. He said they were excluded because of their endorsement of Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump.
Winklevoss Wants The Next SEC Chair Named Before Elections
According to Winklewoss, the action was “petty” and showed the Biden administration’s unwillingness to engage with the crypto industry.
“If you are truly looking to engage with our industry — after waging war on it for the past 4 years — and understand its points of view in earnest, then certainly you would want to hear from and welcome the most vocal and critical voices, the people who have been most negatively impacted by your policies, even if their minds are made up. That is how you get real signal and perspective for self-reflection,” he wrote .
Additionally, Winklevoss criticized the administration for missing an opportunity to mend relations with the crypto industry. He characterized Vice President Kamala Harris’s absence from the Bitcoin Conference as a missed chance to reset the relationship.
Read more: Who Are Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss? A Profile on the Twins
Considering this, Winklevoss urged the US government to provide clarity on the next Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) chair before the upcoming election. He believes that such transparency is essential for demonstrating fair and good-faith treatment of the crypto industry.
“We should demand to know, among other things, who the next chair of the SEC is before we head to the ballot box. This is table stakes, and this is how you make crypto bipartisan. No more guessing. No more hoping. No more surprises. Our industry should not tolerate any possibility of a repeat of the last 4 years,” Tyler stated .
Under Gary Gensler’s leadership , the SEC has faced criticism for its enforcement actions against major crypto firms like Kraken, Binance, and Coinbase. Indeed, crypto stakeholders like billionaire investor Mark Cuban and Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse have criticized these actions, viewing Gensler as a potential political liability .
Read more: Crypto Regulation: What Are the Benefits and Drawbacks?
Meanwhile, Winklevoss expressed hope that cryptocurrency will soon be so widely accepted that it no longer becomes a campaign issue. His remarks followed recent appearances by politicians like Senator Cynthia Lummis and independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. at the Bitcoin Conference . Winklevoss concluded that if cryptocurrency achieves universal acceptance, political appearances at such events will become redundant.
“My hope is that in the not-too-distant future there are no politicians at any Bitcoin or crypto conferences. Not because they are not welcome, but because crypto is so universally accepted that it is no longer a campaign issue and therefore would be a waste of their time,” he added.
