Sen. Brown pushes for ‘consistent, comprehensive’ crypto disclosures in letter

Sherrod Brown does not believe that there are clear enough crypto disclosures to protect Americans

article-image

US Senator Sherrod Brown | lev radin/Shutterstock modified by Blockworks

share

Senator Sherrod Brown, D-OH, is concerned about the “troubling lack of customer-facing” disclosures in crypto. 

The legislator wrote a letter addressed to Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen, Securities and Exchange Commission Chair Gary Gensler, and Commodity Futures Trading Commission Chair Rostin Behnam. 

“I urge you to use existing tools to strengthen transparency and hold bad actors accountable,” he wrote.

Brown hopes that, by addressing the Treasury, CFTC and SEC, the US can “build on our existing disclosure guardrails to effectively target the deficiencies we have observed in digital asset tokens and digital asset platforms.” He’s also requested that the agencies work hand-in-hand with Congress as legislators push crypto-focused legislation forward.

“Some of my colleagues in Congress have proposed merely applying limited disclosure requirements to digital asset tokens. This would be a profound mistake. We cannot water down the high standards that have protected investors and supported businesses for decades,” Brown said.

Brown specifically pushes for “consistent, comprehensive, and accurate disclosures in crypto markets.”

He cites the failures of FTX and Celsius as specific failures, saying that despite the two collapses, “crypto firms have taken no meaningful steps to improve their transparency, leaving customers vulnerable.”

The letter from Brown comes as Congress heads back to Washington to vote on multiple crypto bills. One such bill, the Financial Innovation and Technology for the 21st Century Act, has bipartisan support and seeks to establish joint rulemaking powers between the CFTC and the SEC. 

As Blockworks previously reported, it would also clarify how digital assets are classified, specifically stating that an investment contract does not necessarily make a token a security, with the bill’s co-sponsors publishing a fact sheet that pushes for most tokens to be classified as tokens rather than securities.


Get the news in your inbox. Explore Blockworks newsletters:

Tags

Decoding crypto and the markets. Daily, with Byron Gilliam.

Upcoming Events

Old Billingsgate

Mon - Wed, October 13 - 15, 2025

Blockworks’ Digital Asset Summit (DAS) will feature conversations between the builders, allocators, and legislators who will shape the trajectory of the digital asset ecosystem in the US and abroad.

recent research

Research Report Templates.png

Research

Content Delivery Networks (CDNs) represent low-hanging fruit in a massive market ripe for Web3-driven disruption. The global CDN market was valued at ~$28B in 2024, and is projected to surpass $140B by 2034, (18.75% CAGR) underscoring the immense demand for efficient content delivery.

article-image

US dollars might technically be worth less, but it’s still good news

article-image

Apps are doing well, as is casino gaming, says Tom Schmidt of Dragonfly

article-image

Sponsored

Machine DeFi brings programmable peer-to-peer finance into contact with tangible machines that generate real-world value

article-image

What happens to your investment portfolio when the companies driving returns are no longer in it?

article-image

Wow, the ETF hype sure didn’t last long

article-image

The private sector lost 33,000 jobs in June; analysts had projected payrolls to add 100,000 positions