SEC To Engage More With Crypto Startups: Launches New Portal Called FinHub

The US Securities and Exchange Commission has for long, maintained a strict regulating policy over crypto. However, a new initiative by the SEC prompts the industry to believe that the regulatory body is looking to create a more crypto friendly environment.

This initiative is the launch of a new FinTech Hub or FinHub for short, which would enable increased engagement with companies using blockchain, artificial intelligence and more.

So what is this FinHub? To begin with, it is a tool to encourage more and more companies to approach the SEC for assistance. The project will be offering academic and legal resources to those entrepreneurs who are actively seeking them out to grow their venture. The users can not only pose questions to the SEC but they can also request for a meeting.

This new initiative is aimed at supporting Crypto, Blockchain, ICOs, and Fintech Innovation. The project will be led by Valerie A. Szczepanik, who is the Senior Advisor for Digital Assets and Innovation and Associate Director of the SEC’s Division of Corporation Finance. The project is staffed with experts of SEC from other divisions in he field of crypto.

SEC Chairman Jay Clayton has termed this project as a “central point” for any blockchain related innovation. He said,

“The SEC is committed to working with investors and market participants on new approaches to capital formation, market structure, and financial services, with an eye toward enhancing, and in no way reducing, investor protection. The FinHub provides a central point of focus for our efforts to monitor and engage on innovations in the securities markets that hold promise, but which also require a flexible, prompt regulatory response to execute our mission.”

Ms. Szczepanik further added that FinHub could essentially play a significant role in discussing and developing new strategies for the adoption and promotion of crypto on a larger scale:

“SEC staff across the agency have been engaged for some time in efforts to understand emerging technologies, communicate the agency’s stance on new issues, and facilitate beneficial innovations in the securities industry. By launching FinHub, we hope to provide a clear path for entrepreneurs, developers, and their advisers to engage with SEC staff, seek input, and test ideas.”