SEC chief Gary Gensler hinted that he may be leaving the agency and staunchly defended his history of enforcing cryptocurrencies during a speech at a legal education institute on Thursday. “I have proudly served with my SEC colleagues who work day in and day out to protect American families on the highways of finance,” he – he said.
Gensler’s speech followed Donald Trump ‘s victory in the US presidential election last week. Trump promised to remove Gensler from his post as SEC chairman immediately upon his return to the presidency.
Traditionally, the SEC chairman steps down when a new government takes over. This is especially true if the new administration comes from a different political party. This allows the new president to appoint someone in line with their agenda.
Although SEC commissioners serve five-year terms to maintain some consistency, the position of chairman often changes hands with a change of president.
Gary Gensler considers trends in cryptocurrency surveillance and enforcement
In his speech, Gensler took a reflective tone, recounting his tenure at the SEC. He noted that when he joined the agency in 2021, the SEC, led by Jay Clayton, had already initiated some 80 legal actions against the cryptocurrency sector, including the Ripple case.
He added that the SEC was simply maintaining this vigilant approach to comply with securities regulations. In addition, he stressed that since 2018, the cryptocurrency industry has consistently accounted for about 5%-7% of SEC enforcement actions.
He added that both former Chairman Clayton and he have consistently stated that bitcoin is not a security. “Rather, we focused on about 10,000 other digital assets, many of which the courts have ruled were offered or sold as securities,” – he said.
Gensler noted that before he joined the SEC, many applications for crypto ETFs were rejected or withdrawn. However, upon his arrival in 2021, the first bitcoin futures ETF was successfully launched.
Many in the cryptocurrency sector believe that SEC Chairman Gary Gensler is overly strict and opposed to their interests. They claim that under his leadership, the SEC has adopted a “regulation through enforcement” tactic, which they believe hinders innovation. This approach involves applying current securities regulations to digital currencies without offering a clear regulatory roadmap.
