Today, SEC Chairman Gary Gensler had a TV interview where he continued to assert his stance against cryptocurrencies. He called the industry “full of bad actors” and “built around violation,” showing his usual toughness.
Gensler asserts that his career as a financial manager has actually made his previous attitude more aggressive, but he has not softened since his demotion.
Gensler After Serving SEC
Many descriptions could apply to SEC interim Chairman Gary Gensler, but no one could accuse him of changing his beliefs easily. Since Trump won the recent Presidential election, Gensler announced that he would resign on Inauguration Day. His “farewell” speech staunchly defended his anti-cryptocurrency stances, and Mr continue after two months:
“This field is full of bad people. The public knows a lot about Bitcoin, which accounts for the majority of the market value, and then there’s everything else. These 10 or 15K projects… many of them will not exist,” Gensler declared.
Gensler began his television interview by discussing his positive experiences at the SEC and his willingness to stand firm in the face of public opposition. From there, the story turns to one of his biggest critics: the US cryptocurrency industry. He claimed that he had made strides in increasing compliance with the law, but described it as a particularly difficult task.
“Everything in the trading market is based on a combination of fundamentals and sentiment. I have never seen a field that embraces so much emotion, with so little reliance on fundamentals! This is a sector built around non-compliance,” he added.
Particularly surprising, Gensler drew special attention to the SEC’s efforts to take down high-profile crypto criminals. He mentioned Sam Bankman-Fried, Do Kwon and Changpeng “CZ” Zhao as criminals of the same class, despite major differences in their behavior. CZ, for example, was only sentenced to four months, while SBF received 25 years.
Gensler also claimed that his tenure at the SEC actually hardened his anti-crypto stance. His previous work was in academia, and he said he continually tried to absorb the arguments in favor of cryptocurrency in an academic setting. However, after becoming a federal regulator, Gensler saw a responsibility to get tough on violations.
Ultimately, whatever idea Gensler had for the SEC as a cryptocurrency regulator is over. Trump will replace him with an industry ally at the start of his term, and the CFTC Chairman will also step down at the same time.
Still, there is something honorable in Gensler’s perspective. He sees himself as a staunch enemy of cryptocurrency, and failure does not discourage him.