09/14/2026
The Readability Act Would Jeopardize State Attorneys Common’s Ability to Protect Buyers from Scams and Frauds
(Hartford, CT) — Legal professional Common William Tong right now joined a bipartisan coalition of 16 different attorneys common in opposing the Digital Asset Market Readability Act (Readability Act). In a letter sent to Senators Tim Scott and Elizabeth Warren, Chair and Rating Member of the U.S. Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and City Affairs, Legal professional Common Tong and the coalition warn that the Readability Act would jeopardize their skill to defend buyers from rampant digital cryptocurrency fraud and scams. The attorneys common warning that as written, the Readability Act would forestall states from serving as the primary line of protection towards the escalating epidemic of cryptocurrency fraud.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) reported $11.4 billion in losses from complaints involving cryptocurrencies in 2025, a rise of twenty-two% from 2024, with a mean reported lack of $62,604. The Federal Commerce Fee (FTC) has reported $1.78 billion in losses from complaints involving cryptocurrencies in 2025, a 25.6 % enhance from 2024.
“Nobody trusts the Trump Administration to defend us from crypto scams—not when Trump himself and his circle of relatives are grifting off this similar gravy prepare. People are dropping billions of {dollars} to crypto scams. Congress wants to maintain state, federal, civil and felony legislation enforcement at full power to cease these scams,” stated Legal professional Common Tong.
The monetary influence of crypto scams on victims could be devastating. In its current kind, the Readability Act would muddy the waters, making it more durable for the attorneys common nationwide to proceed efforts to crack down on cryptocurrency scams and maintain platforms that violate the legislation accountable. The Readability Act would additionally enable the Securities and Alternate Fee (SEC) to preempt state registration authorities. This unprecedented grant of authority wouldn’t solely apply to digital belongings however would additionally broadly grant unilateral discretion to the SEC to reset the scope of federal preemption, doubtlessly upending the state securities regulatory regime. The attorneys common assert that Congress mustn’t cede such vital energy to the SEC.
State enforcement powers have been a essential weapon in preventing the crypto fraud epidemic. Since 2017, states have introduced over 330 anti-fraud enforcement actions towards scammers within the crypto ecosystem, shutting down fraudulent web sites and schemes, securing justice for victims, and prioritizing instances the place victims had no federal or personal recourse.
Sustaining state oversight of the cryptocurrency trade is essential to defending shoppers and buyers. Of their letter, the attorneys common advocate for laws that might:
• Preserve states’ enforcement position for each tokenized and non-tokenized securities;
• Preserve cooperation between the federal authorities and the states;
• Codify states’ position as regulators of cryptocurrencies and protect their registration regimes that require crypto platforms to certify with states; and
• Make clear ambiguous language that would in any other case embolden unhealthy actors and lead to authorized battles over enforcement.
Becoming a member of Legal professional Common Tong in sending the letter to Congress are the attorneys common of Arizona, California, Delaware, Illinois, Kansas, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, New Jersey, New York, Nevada, Ohio, Virginia, Washington, Wisconsin and the District of Columbia.
- Twitter: @AGWilliamTong
- Fb: CT Attorney General
Media Contact:
Elizabeth Benton
elizabeth.benton@ct.gov
Client Inquiries:
860-808-5318
attorney.general@ct.gov
