U.S. Representative Ritchie Torres has taken a strong stance against the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), calling for an investigation into what he describes as a “haphazard and heavy-handed approach to digital assets.”
In letters published on Twitter, Torres directs his requests to the SEC’s Inspector General Deborah Jeffrey, and the Government Accountability Office’s Comptroller General Gene Dodaro.
At the heart of Torres’ concerns is the SEC’s decision in May to grant a special broker purpose dealer (SPBD) license to Prometheum, a digital assets platform established in 2017 by two U.S. financial attorneys.
Torres questions the legitimacy of Prometheum, describing it as a “Potemkin platform” that serves as a mere talking point for critics of cryptocurrencies, rather than a genuine trading platform for customers.
Torres demands an examination of the SEC’s failure to establish an effective process for registering digital assets platforms, as well as an investigation into the alleged “unusual backdoor deal” involving Prometheum.
This call for an investigation comes after Prometheum faced scrutiny following co-founder Aaron Kaplan’s testimony before Congress in June. Kaplan’s support of the SEC’s regulatory strategy under current securities laws raised suspicions and fueled speculation, particularly on Twitter, about the platform’s potential ties to Chinese investors.
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The Blockchain Association also filed a request with the SEC in June, seeking information about Prometheum, adding to the growing concerns. More recently, six U.S. lawmakers have urged the SEC to investigate the platform’s alleged “ties to the Chinese Communist Party.”
