The cryptocurrency industry is reportedly targeting the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) in what insiders call an “Italian vendetta” for its overly aggressive regulations during the Biden administration.

According to a new Politico report, big names in the crypto industry like Ripple, Coinbase, and Gemini executives are now taking action against SEC officials as revenge for the agency’s alleged wrongdoings of the past.

Politico reports that a former SEC employee – who was “granted anonymity over concerns of retaliation from the industry” – said they witnessed a law firm decline to move forward with interviewing an individual at the SEC because of the firm’s work in crypto, and In another instance, the former employee said, a law firm pulled an offer altogether for the same reason.

Responding to Politico, Coinbase’s chief legal officer Paul Grewal reportedly said,

“People have a right to earn a living. They have a right to take their talents wherever they want to take them… But we, too, have a right to decide who we’ll work with.”

Says William McLucas, a former enforcement director at the SEC, of the crypto industry attacks on SEC staff,

“You’re penalizing people who were basically doing their jobs.

If they want to rail about the prior commission and its leadership, go ahead.

But singling out lawyers and saying, ‘We want their names out there, we want them labeled as pariahs’ — I’ve never seen anything like it.”

Said an anonymous industry official of the attacks,

“Where’s the goddamn off-ramp? You got Gary Gensler’s scalp. There’s not that many other people you can go after.

It’s an Italian vendetta, and I don’t know what to do. Because in most vendettas, nobody actually wins. Everybody keeps dying.”

The pushback comes as the Republican-led SEC begins reversing enforcement actions initiated under former Chair Gary Gensler. Critics argue his “regulation by enforcement” approach hampered innovation in the crypto space.

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Leading financial industry groups have urged President Donald Trump’s administration to roll back federal policies they say have restricted US banks from engaging in digital asset markets and warned that regulatory overreach is hampering American leadership in financial innovation.

In a letter sent to David Sacks, Special Advisor for Artificial Intelligence and Crypto and chair of the President’s Working Group on Digital Asset Markets, the groups called for the immediate rescission or revision of policies imposed by federal banking agencies under the previous administration.

According to the letter:

“These policies have made it exceedingly difficult for banks to engage in digital asset-related activities, despite their clear legal authority to do so.”

They also pressed the White House to include key regulators — the Federal Reserve, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC), and the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) — in the working group’s efforts to reshape the U.S. digital asset framework.

US banks sidelined

The letter, signed by the Bank Policy Institute, American Bankers Association, Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association, and other financial organizations, argued that restrictive policies have left US banks lagging behind international competitors in the digital asset sector.

The banking organizations singled out several regulatory actions issued under the Biden administration, including:

• Federal Reserve’s SR 22-6 policy on crypto-asset engagement
• OCC’s Interpretive Letter 1179 restricting crypto custody
• FDIC’s FIL-16-2022 notification requirement for crypto activities
• Joint agency statements warning against crypto-asset risks

The letter stated:

“The United States will not be able to achieve a leadership position in digital assets and financial technology under the status quo.”

The banking groups said the first step in advancing that goal is rolling back Biden-era restrictions, which they argued have created uncertainty and discouraged US financial institutions from participating in the sector.

The organizations signaled their intent to provide detailed regulatory and legislative proposals to help US banks regain competitiveness in the global digital asset economy. They also requested a meeting with Sacks and the working group to discuss the next steps.

Inclusion in Crypto Task Force

The groups also urged Sacks to expand the President’s Working Group to include banking regulators, citing their influence over financial markets. The FDIC, OCC, and Federal Reserve were not included in the current task force despite their oversight of banks seeking to engage with digital assets.

The letter pointed to FDIC Acting Chairman Travis Hill’s recent remarks, in which he acknowledged that the agency’s approach to crypto had led to a perception that the FDIC was “closed for business” regarding blockchain and digital asset-related activities.

Beyond banking regulators, the groups suggested that the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) and the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) — both divisions of the Treasury Department — should also be included in digital asset discussions, given their role in regulating financial crime and sanctions compliance.

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