Gary Gensler, the Chair of the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), has been posting spicy stuff on social media lately. He tweeted on X, a social network similar to Twitter, that he was going to resign. This post was, at first, very hard for many people to get. Nevertheless, he denied his retirement, which caused a reaction among crypto community members. The video attracted over 1.1 million viewers and sparked a fierce debate where many digital development platforms were used.
A crypto fan and an industry expert, respectively, demonstrated their discontent with the issue. They saw it as a meme made into a troll by Jordan Fish, who spent a lot of time on crypto trading. Elliot Stein of Bloomberg, however, said that it could become a resignation announcement, but it emerged that it wasn’t. Scott Johnsson, director of Van Buren Capital, called Gensler’s actions the wrong way, implying that his policy would lead in the wrong direction.
Gary Gensler drives record SEC crypto actions
Under Gensler, the SEC has emphasized stricter enforcement of crypto regulations. The Commission’s enforcement activity in 2023 surpassed all records in the number of enforcement actions taken, doubling the number taken in 2021. As a consequence, American cyber executives and some politicians have started fighting with the state’s regulations. According to them, Gensler’s approach is heavily driven by the concept of “in-enforcement regulation.”
And we’re not done. On our agenda: further equity market structure rules and additional cybersecurity rules, among others.
— Gary Gensler (@GaryGensler) April 17, 2024
The SEC has been very active in the designation of cryptocurrencies as securities, which has brought a number of high-profile lawsuits against crypto enterprises. Gensler points out that the crypto world is extremely susceptible to fraud and manipulation. He demands that corporations conform to regulations, and there is a need for investor protection. This strategy, in turn, has raised the issue of whether rules should be more transparent or if the SEC could just overstep its boundaries.
Crypto community reacts strongly to Gensler’s tweet
Upon posting on the crypto community on X, Gensler experienced a significant wave of reactivity among the viewers. While some comments received relatively more likes than the initial post, this shows the degree of the community’s self-organization and the intensity of the feelings. This event once again shows that SEC and crypto lovers are not on friendly terms. Moreover, it draws attention to the perpetual difficulty in balancing regulator responsibility with industry aggrandizement.
President Joe Biden chose Gensler in 2021 to lead the agency. This term can end as late as 2026. Nevertheless, expect the appointment of a new SEC chair after the U.S. presidential elections. Worse yet, there would be changes in the leadership if a new president was elected and, in turn, appointed a different SEC Chair. This ambiguity is one more difficulty added to the U.S. crypto regulation twist, as well as the whole cryptocurrency markets worldwide.
