The Blockchain Association, a US cryptocurrency lobby group, has filed a request with the US Securities and Exchange Commission seeking information about previously little-known cryptocurrency firm Prometheum.
The company came into the crypto industry's spotlight this week as its CEO, Aaron Kaplan, tested at a House hearing and backed regulation of crypto under securities laws and the SEC, a stance that joins other outspoken voices in the industry. the opposite .
On June 15, Blockchain Association legal counsel Marissa Coppel said the group filed a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request with the SEC seeking documents and communications related to Prometheum. In a series of tweets, Coppel said she "doubts" Prometheum's approval as a special purpose broker-dealer (SPBD) for digital assets "in the midst of aggressive enforcement by the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).
Coppel also expressed doubts about how Kaplan would be able to testify at a congressional hearing about the industry's regulations. A FOIA request is one submitted by a member of the public to a US federal agency and can request records on any subject, in this case, The SEC's information about Prometheum.
During a June 13 House hearing, Kaplan said his firm had not received any "additional waivers from the SEC" when questioned on behalf of Mike Flood. Meanwhile, others have questioned the background of the Prometheum team, noting that some were former SEC and FINRA staffers.
Prometheum's chief compliance officer, Joseph Zangri, was an SEC enforcement attorney in the mid to late 1990s. Additionally, Rosemarie Fanelli, the firm's Chief Regulatory Officer, joins the firm in May 2021 after nearly 14 years in senior roles at US securities regulator FINRA. Prometheum's co-founders and co-CEOs Aaron and Benjamin Kaplan are also somewhat detached from former SEC employees. The Kaplans are attorneys at the Gusrae Kaplan law firm, which it says was founded "by a former chief prosecutor of the SEC's Enforcement Divi sion." Martin H. Kaplan, co-founder of Gusrae Kaplan, is also the chairman of Prometheum.
However, it is not uncommon for crypto companies to hire former regulators. Binance.US has hired former SEC Enforcement Co-Director George Canelos as an attorney following the SEC's lawsuit. Stablecoin issuer Circle's newly appointed chief legal officer has a ré sume spanning a number of government positions, including at the US Treasury Department and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission.
