SEC's Gary Gensler: Tracking the Evolution of His Crypto Views Amid Regulatory Push
Since assuming the position of Chair at the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Gary Gensler's stance on cryptocurrencies has undergone a notable shift.
During the pre-Covid boom of the cryptocurrency market, Gensler expressed optimism about blockchain and its potential to drive change.
In a December 2019 op-ed for CoinDesk, he wrote about being intrigued by the innovation's capacity to lower verification and networking costs, reduce economic rents and data privacy costs, and promote economic inclusion.
"The potential to lower verification and networking costs is worth pursuing, particularly to lower economic rents and data privacy costs, and promote economic inclusion," he wrote at the time.
However, upon assuming the role of SEC Chair, Gensler adopted a more skeptical approach, using a "poker chips" analogy to describe cryptocurrencies.
He warned Congress in October 2021 about the growing stablecoin market, emphasizing the systemic risks associated with it.
"I do think that if this continues to grow – and it's grown about tenfold in the last year – it can present those systemic wide risks," Gensler said.
Gensler increased his crypto crackdown after the collapse of cryptocurrency exchange FTX, which brought allegations of negligence towards the SEC and Gensler himself.
The collapse of FTX led also to criticisms from lawmakers, with US Representative Ritchie Torres holding Gensler solely responsible for the catastrophe.
This seemingly marked a turning point for Gensler, as he became more hardline on crypto.
In addition to pursuing legal action against FTX, Gensler initiated lawsuits against prominent players in the industry.
Back in June, the SEC sued both Binance, the world's largest cryptocurrency exchange,
Read more on cryptonews.com
