John Reed Stark, the former director of the SEC’s Office of Internet Enforcement, showed up at the first SEC crypto roundtable like a parent at a teenager’s party—ready to shut it all down. 
His message? Regulatory reform for crypto? Not on his watch.
Stark, who seems to have a personal vendetta against anything digital and shiny, argued that the Securities Act of 1933 and 1934 should remain untouched. Why? Because, according to him, digital assets are just securities in a digital trench coat, and they shouldn’t be allowed to escape the law’s clutches. 
“People buying crypto aren’t collectors,” Stark declared, as if he’d just uncovered a grand conspiracy. “They’re investors, and the SEC’s job is to protect them.” He then went on to describe crypto firms as the legal equivalent of procrastinating college students: “They delay, delay, delay, hire the best lawyers, and still lose every time.” 
“The volume of case law has developed so quickly because of all these crypto firms. They went for this sort of delay, delay, delay, idea, and they hired the best law firms in the world, and these law firms all fought the SEC with incredible briefs.”
“I’ve read every single one of them,” Stark added, probably while sipping coffee at 3 a.m. “And they lost just about, I would argue, every single time.” 
He wrapped up his rant by claiming that crypto isn’t innovative. “Compared to the iPhone? Please. It’s like comparing a flip phone to a spaceship.” 
Stark has long been one of crypto’s most vocal critics, often sounding like a grumpy uncle at Thanksgiving. In February 2024, he compared a sponsorship deal between the Dallas Mavericks and crypto firm Voyager to partnering with a “heroin manufacturing firm.” 
He also defended the SEC’s regulation-by-enforcement approach under former chairman Gary Gensler, arguing that crypto should conform to existing laws rather than the other way around. Because, you know, the future of money should definitely be governed by laws written when people still used rotary phones. 
Unsurprisingly, Stark’s anti-crypto stance has ruffled feathers. In June 2023, investor Mark Cuban accused him of having “crypto derangement syndrome.” 
But hey, at least Stark’s consistent—consistently cranky, that is. 
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2025-03-22 00:30