Amanda Fischer
@amandalfischer.bsky.social
Current: @bettermarkets.bsky.social
Former: Chief of Staff at the Securities & Exchange Commission and policy advisor in the House and Senate on financial services policy.
Former: Chief of Staff at the Securities & Exchange Commission and policy advisor in the House and Senate on financial services policy.
Reposted by Amanda Fischer
Justice Brandeis wrote “sunlight is said to be the best of disinfectants; electric light the most efficient policeman.” He championed creating the SEC after the 1929 crash.
Now, SEC is doing its work in secrecy. Read this
@bettermarkets.bsky.social brief: bettermarkets.substack.com/p/the-secret...
Now, SEC is doing its work in secrecy. Read this
@bettermarkets.bsky.social brief: bettermarkets.substack.com/p/the-secret...
The Secret Securities and Exchange Commission
By Amanda Fischer, Policy Director & COO
bettermarkets.substack.com
October 16, 2025 at 6:35 PM
Justice Brandeis wrote “sunlight is said to be the best of disinfectants; electric light the most efficient policeman.” He championed creating the SEC after the 1929 crash.
Now, SEC is doing its work in secrecy. Read this
@bettermarkets.bsky.social brief: bettermarkets.substack.com/p/the-secret...
Now, SEC is doing its work in secrecy. Read this
@bettermarkets.bsky.social brief: bettermarkets.substack.com/p/the-secret...
I wrote a new piece outlining how SEC leadership is using “staff” statements and novel legal maneuvers to avoid the APA, a critical public transparency law.
It’s a way to deliver for the financial services industry while avoiding scrutiny of skeptics and public interest advocates.
It’s a way to deliver for the financial services industry while avoiding scrutiny of skeptics and public interest advocates.
In the past nine months, the SEC has strayed from the standard rulemaking process that is supposed to let members of the public have equal opportunity to comment on changes before they go into effect. Read more in a Substack by @amandalfischer.bsky.social: bettermarkets.substack.com/p/the-secret...
The Secret Securities and Exchange Commission
By Amanda Fischer, Policy Director & COO
bettermarkets.substack.com
October 16, 2025 at 7:35 PM
I wrote a new piece outlining how SEC leadership is using “staff” statements and novel legal maneuvers to avoid the APA, a critical public transparency law.
It’s a way to deliver for the financial services industry while avoiding scrutiny of skeptics and public interest advocates.
It’s a way to deliver for the financial services industry while avoiding scrutiny of skeptics and public interest advocates.
Reposted by Amanda Fischer
Important explanation by @bettermarkets.bsky.social of how the crypto industry is reusing the same bogus “technological advancement” hype that Citigroup circa 1999 to gut key financial market protections.
Past is prologue. We should heed its lessons: bettermarkets.org/wp-content/u...
Past is prologue. We should heed its lessons: bettermarkets.org/wp-content/u...
![Groundhog Day
There is a tragic throughline running through this long-running script: financial industry leaders blow past legal guardrails, citing that their technological innovations cannot possibly be cabined in by outmoded rules created by a previous generation. Regulatory and law enforcement officials are under-resourced and out-gunned even at times when they have the best intentions for fulfilling the public interest. Other times, these officials are captured by the very industries they're tasked to police. In either case, industries are too often able to establish economic power through their noncompliance with existing law and translate it into political power to rewrite the rules to bless their business models. This noncompliance in the face of clear existing legal precedent creates the very "uncertainty" that the industry points to as a justification to change the law. And the final rhetorical move is to invoke international competitiveness, hoping to scare lawmakers into believing that a failure to bend the law to an industry's favor will harm U.S. industries, jobs and growth.
Crypto has memorized this script and is reading their lines in an Oscar-worthy performance to many policymakers. Congressional hearings bemoan the "legal uncertainty" caused by applying longstanding laws to arrangements that look a lot like pre-existing investment schemes but are digital or blockchain-based. Crypto industry petitions to federal agencies say that Great Depression-era laws "[prevent] market participants from leveraging the efficiencies new technology can offer."](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:32lvgu3krzhhw3h6k3pme72r/bafkreih6mirekxauy353h5w7jg2qg4cxkbf4lcl25dzqhiicoejnd2wkou@jpeg)
September 25, 2025 at 7:44 PM
Important explanation by @bettermarkets.bsky.social of how the crypto industry is reusing the same bogus “technological advancement” hype that Citigroup circa 1999 to gut key financial market protections.
Past is prologue. We should heed its lessons: bettermarkets.org/wp-content/u...
Past is prologue. We should heed its lessons: bettermarkets.org/wp-content/u...
While the CFPB is closed for business when it comes to helping Americans fight financial scams, they are hard at work rewriting rules to benefit subprime auto lenders. (quick thread)
September 22, 2025 at 9:50 PM
While the CFPB is closed for business when it comes to helping Americans fight financial scams, they are hard at work rewriting rules to benefit subprime auto lenders. (quick thread)
Reposted by Amanda Fischer
Paul Benda of the American Bankers Association calls for more regulation of data brokers to combat fraud and scams.
That’s strange… When the CFPB proposed just that, ABA opposed it.
www.consumerfinance.gov/about-us/new...
www.aba.com/advocacy/pol...
That’s strange… When the CFPB proposed just that, ABA opposed it.
www.consumerfinance.gov/about-us/new...
www.aba.com/advocacy/pol...
September 18, 2025 at 2:58 PM
Paul Benda of the American Bankers Association calls for more regulation of data brokers to combat fraud and scams.
That’s strange… When the CFPB proposed just that, ABA opposed it.
www.consumerfinance.gov/about-us/new...
www.aba.com/advocacy/pol...
That’s strange… When the CFPB proposed just that, ABA opposed it.
www.consumerfinance.gov/about-us/new...
www.aba.com/advocacy/pol...
Over on the other site, Bill Ackman is urging Eric Adams to bet on Cuomo’s chances of winning the NYC election & then drop out & cash in his bet once Cuomo’s odds inevitably rise.
Ackman is also declaring this scheme legal when in fact it very much not.
Ackman is also declaring this scheme legal when in fact it very much not.
September 6, 2025 at 10:20 PM
Over on the other site, Bill Ackman is urging Eric Adams to bet on Cuomo’s chances of winning the NYC election & then drop out & cash in his bet once Cuomo’s odds inevitably rise.
Ackman is also declaring this scheme legal when in fact it very much not.
Ackman is also declaring this scheme legal when in fact it very much not.
Question: did the White House vet this guy and like what they saw or were they too lazy to vet him?
NEW: Trump's nominee to run the Bureau of Labor Statistics ran an anonymous Twitter account filled with sexually degrading attacks on Kamala Harris, anti-gay slurs, and far-right conspiracy theories.
www.cnn.com/2025/09/05/p...
www.cnn.com/2025/09/05/p...
Trump’s pick to lead Bureau of Labor Statistics ran anonymous Twitter account filled with sexually degrading and bigoted attacks | CNN Politics
President Donald Trump’s nominee to lead the Bureau of Labor Statistics operated a since-deleted Twitter account that featured sexually degrading attacks on Kamala Harris, derogatory remarks about gay...
www.cnn.com
September 5, 2025 at 9:17 PM
Question: did the White House vet this guy and like what they saw or were they too lazy to vet him?
An entire dissertation could be written about the visual accompanying this senate campaign announcement.
The men foregrounded and centered when *she* is the candidate is really communicating a lot without saying anything.
The men foregrounded and centered when *she* is the candidate is really communicating a lot without saying anything.
September 2, 2025 at 10:03 PM
An entire dissertation could be written about the visual accompanying this senate campaign announcement.
The men foregrounded and centered when *she* is the candidate is really communicating a lot without saying anything.
The men foregrounded and centered when *she* is the candidate is really communicating a lot without saying anything.
Trump musing that an appointee maybe did something maybe wrong unrelated to her job is not grounds for firing. She should fight it.
In the meantime, Wall Street should be freaking out.
In the meantime, Wall Street should be freaking out.
Trump posts a letter stating that he is removing Fed Governor Lisa Cook
August 26, 2025 at 12:21 AM
Trump musing that an appointee maybe did something maybe wrong unrelated to her job is not grounds for firing. She should fight it.
In the meantime, Wall Street should be freaking out.
In the meantime, Wall Street should be freaking out.
Trump and FHFA Director Pulte have launched a smear campaign against Fed Governor Lisa Cook.
Setting aside the many offensive things about this post, the central image is also not Cook. It is an unflattering photo of a different Black woman that is not a Fed Governor.
Setting aside the many offensive things about this post, the central image is also not Cook. It is an unflattering photo of a different Black woman that is not a Fed Governor.
August 23, 2025 at 11:11 PM
Trump and FHFA Director Pulte have launched a smear campaign against Fed Governor Lisa Cook.
Setting aside the many offensive things about this post, the central image is also not Cook. It is an unflattering photo of a different Black woman that is not a Fed Governor.
Setting aside the many offensive things about this post, the central image is also not Cook. It is an unflattering photo of a different Black woman that is not a Fed Governor.
In 2021 when I was listening to @bft.wtf and @cascoinfoundation.org talk about the crazy history of Tether it would end up being the best prep for understanding influence peddling in the second Trump Admin
August 19, 2025 at 7:34 PM
In 2021 when I was listening to @bft.wtf and @cascoinfoundation.org talk about the crazy history of Tether it would end up being the best prep for understanding influence peddling in the second Trump Admin
Reposted by Amanda Fischer
Our Policy Director & COO @amandalfischer.bsky.social spoke with @cnn.com about the GENIUS Act, stablecoins, and potential risks to investors. www.cnn.com/2025/08/18/b...
Crypto is booming. Washington is driving the rally | CNN Business
It’s been a summer to remember for crypto.
www.cnn.com
August 18, 2025 at 8:17 PM
Our Policy Director & COO @amandalfischer.bsky.social spoke with @cnn.com about the GENIUS Act, stablecoins, and potential risks to investors. www.cnn.com/2025/08/18/b...
Grateful to talk about crypto risks on CBS. Check it out.
Our COO & Policy Director @amandalfischer.bsky.social appeared on @cbssundaymorning.bsky.social to discuss the volatility and speculative nature of crypto. Watch: www.cbsnews.com/news/the-cry...
The crypto craze sweeping Washington and Wall Street
While many Americans are still baffled by cryptocurrency, enthusiasm for these digital assets is growing - despite the potential risks of integrating digital currencies with the mainstream economy - i...
www.cbsnews.com
August 12, 2025 at 8:48 PM
Grateful to talk about crypto risks on CBS. Check it out.
Every time I hear someone talk about Web 3.0 or AI or whatever, I just want to scream "fix wireless printers, fix cell phones." Stop inventing new things until this is solved.
My printers never work for long. Set up goes fine to my iMac and iPad. It will print a few times and then stop communicating with server. This didn’t happen when I used same printer during my field work this year. That means the issue is, as I suspected, something with my WiFi’s IP protocols.
August 12, 2025 at 7:54 PM
Every time I hear someone talk about Web 3.0 or AI or whatever, I just want to scream "fix wireless printers, fix cell phones." Stop inventing new things until this is solved.
For the life of me I can't find it, but there was this conservative pre-COVID essay about DC devolving into an unlivable hellscape & two of the data points were the increasing presence of chicken bones on Barrack's Row & the way that "High Tea" at DC hotels had become too casual
August 11, 2025 at 7:14 PM
For the life of me I can't find it, but there was this conservative pre-COVID essay about DC devolving into an unlivable hellscape & two of the data points were the increasing presence of chicken bones on Barrack's Row & the way that "High Tea" at DC hotels had become too casual
The SEC's latest crypto giveaway is to bless the same type of rehypothecation that cratered Lehman Brothers - only in crypto it's worse because you can do it without any SEC or Fed oversight.
So what's going on? (thread)
www.sec.gov/newsroom/spe...
So what's going on? (thread)
www.sec.gov/newsroom/spe...
SEC.gov | Statement on Certain Liquid Staking Activities
Statement on Certain Liquid Staking Activities Division of Corporation Finance August 5, 2025
www.sec.gov
August 5, 2025 at 8:25 PM
The SEC's latest crypto giveaway is to bless the same type of rehypothecation that cratered Lehman Brothers - only in crypto it's worse because you can do it without any SEC or Fed oversight.
So what's going on? (thread)
www.sec.gov/newsroom/spe...
So what's going on? (thread)
www.sec.gov/newsroom/spe...
As Congress debates crypto giveaways @repmaxinewaters.bsky.social points out that, “we are supporting the same billionaires that just got massive tax cuts and sponsored Trump’s Stalinist military parade.”
July 17, 2025 at 3:44 PM
As Congress debates crypto giveaways @repmaxinewaters.bsky.social points out that, “we are supporting the same billionaires that just got massive tax cuts and sponsored Trump’s Stalinist military parade.”
Reposted by Amanda Fischer
Our @amandalfischer.bsky.social spoke with @reuters.com about how DOGE involvement in SEC rulemaking raises serious concerns about potential conflicts of interest and political influence overriding staff expertise. www.reuters.com/legal/govern...
Exclusive: DOGE now targeting SEC policy, eyes SPAC rules, sources say
President Donald Trump's Department of Government Efficiency initiative has pushed the U.S. markets watchdog to loosen Wall Street rules around blank-check companies and confidential reporting by private investment funds, according to two people familiar with the matter.
www.reuters.com
July 7, 2025 at 4:56 PM
Our @amandalfischer.bsky.social spoke with @reuters.com about how DOGE involvement in SEC rulemaking raises serious concerns about potential conflicts of interest and political influence overriding staff expertise. www.reuters.com/legal/govern...
Reposted by Amanda Fischer
Allowing Amazon & Walmart to issue stablecoins will be disastrous, says @amandalfischer.bsky.social. More market power. New forms of too-big-to-fail. Sellers & suppliers forced to use a private currency with fees. Plus, more of our capital channeled to speculation, rather than loans for real stuff.
June 24, 2025 at 12:23 PM
Allowing Amazon & Walmart to issue stablecoins will be disastrous, says @amandalfischer.bsky.social. More market power. New forms of too-big-to-fail. Sellers & suppliers forced to use a private currency with fees. Plus, more of our capital channeled to speculation, rather than loans for real stuff.
Reposted by Amanda Fischer
Our Policy Director & COO @amandalfischer.bsky.social pointed out for @cnbc.com that the GENIUS Act ignores “the susceptibility of stablecoin companies to runs, bankruptcies, and taxpayer-funded bailouts.” www.cnbc.com/2025/06/21/h...
How the stablecoin bill gives Treasury Secretary Bessent a new tool to fund the U.S. deficit
The Senate's GENIUS Act could spur crypto companies to buy billions of dollars of U.S. Treasury bills.
www.cnbc.com
June 23, 2025 at 4:32 PM
Our Policy Director & COO @amandalfischer.bsky.social pointed out for @cnbc.com that the GENIUS Act ignores “the susceptibility of stablecoin companies to runs, bankruptcies, and taxpayer-funded bailouts.” www.cnbc.com/2025/06/21/h...
Reposted by Amanda Fischer
A federal judge rejects the Trump Administration’s efforts to abandon the #CFPB's redlining settlement with Townstone Financial Inc. This is a huge victory protecting against attempts to rollback critical civil rights and fair lending protections.
nationalfairhousing.org/judge-reject...
nationalfairhousing.org/judge-reject...
Judge Rejects Trump Administration’s Efforts to Abandon Redlining Settlement with Townstone Financial Inc. - NFHA
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Judge Rejects Trump Administration’s Efforts to Abandon Redlining Settlement with Townstone Financial Inc. WASHINGTON _ A federal judge has denied an attempt by the new leadersh...
nationalfairhousing.org
June 13, 2025 at 2:18 PM
A federal judge rejects the Trump Administration’s efforts to abandon the #CFPB's redlining settlement with Townstone Financial Inc. This is a huge victory protecting against attempts to rollback critical civil rights and fair lending protections.
nationalfairhousing.org/judge-reject...
nationalfairhousing.org/judge-reject...
We are in the dumbest timeline
June 12, 2025 at 1:20 PM
We are in the dumbest timeline
I had a chance to testify before the House Financial Services Committee on the new crypto market structure legislation.
Spoiler alert: it’s bad. A few observations with my testimony linked below.
1. No one is talking about how we are about to have ONE CFTC commissioner & an all GOP SEC.
Spoiler alert: it’s bad. A few observations with my testimony linked below.
1. No one is talking about how we are about to have ONE CFTC commissioner & an all GOP SEC.
June 6, 2025 at 5:14 PM
I had a chance to testify before the House Financial Services Committee on the new crypto market structure legislation.
Spoiler alert: it’s bad. A few observations with my testimony linked below.
1. No one is talking about how we are about to have ONE CFTC commissioner & an all GOP SEC.
Spoiler alert: it’s bad. A few observations with my testimony linked below.
1. No one is talking about how we are about to have ONE CFTC commissioner & an all GOP SEC.
Sound familiar? Brooksley Born in the late 90s heroically tried to regulate financial derivatives using existing legal authority but got smashed by a powerful lobby who argued that the tech was novel & Congress needed to pass new law to let innovation flourish
Now Born is speaking out on crypto
Now Born is speaking out on crypto
June 2, 2025 at 9:38 PM
Sound familiar? Brooksley Born in the late 90s heroically tried to regulate financial derivatives using existing legal authority but got smashed by a powerful lobby who argued that the tech was novel & Congress needed to pass new law to let innovation flourish
Now Born is speaking out on crypto
Now Born is speaking out on crypto
I spoke to the @Financialtimes.com about the obvious but unspoken truth on stablecoins: the product is clearly violative of Glass-Steagall, which predicted the exact problem of firms that are not banks doing bank stuff and made it illegal.
June 2, 2025 at 3:13 PM
I spoke to the @Financialtimes.com about the obvious but unspoken truth on stablecoins: the product is clearly violative of Glass-Steagall, which predicted the exact problem of firms that are not banks doing bank stuff and made it illegal.