#OnChainLendingSurge Gary Gensler: Most cryptocurrency projects will not survive for long

In an interview with Bloomberg, Gary Gensler said that under his leadership, over the past four years, the SEC has filed about 100 lawsuits against companies that violate securities laws. Under his predecessor, Jay Clayton, about 80 lawsuits were initiated. Gensler attributed this to the fact that the cryptocurrency market is rife with fraud, and the agency seeks to protect investors from risky investments, cryptoasset rate manipulation and misinformation.

Gensler said the public knows a lot about bitcoin, which, depending on its market value, accounts for between two-thirds and 80% of the market capitalization of cryptocurrencies. He said between 10,000 and 15,000 crypto projects are raising money from the public. That said, many of them are just speculative investments that offer hope for a better future.

“I have been working with finance for over four decades, and I can tell you that markets trade based on fundamentals and sentiment. However, I have never seen an area that depends too much on trader sentiment. Many of these 10,000-15,000 crypto projects will not survive. It's like venture capital investing,” Gensler said.

Gensler is scheduled to step down as SEC chairman on Jan. 20. His position will be filled by Paul Atkins, who was appointed by US President-elect Donald Trump. Atkins is expected to take a more lenient approach to regulating the industry, and the number of enforcement actions against cryptocurrency companies will be significantly reduced.