One of President-elect Donald Trump’s many promises — to fire Gary Gensler and appoint a new chairman of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission — could come true on January 20, the day of his inauguration.
For example, Gensler took office less than 11 weeks after being appointed by President Joe Biden on February 3, 2021.
Gensler could also step down before Trump takes office, in which case the Democratic Party would appoint an interim chairman.
The numerous endorsements that US President-elect Donald Trump has received from crypto leaders — the Winklevoss twins, Marc Andreessen and Ryan Selkis, to name a few — are the result of the real estate mogul’s many promises to support the expansion and continued development of the digital asset industry in the United States.
Perhaps one of the most important promises Trump made to woo the crypto community to his side was: “On day one, I’m going to fire Gary Gensler.”
Although he cannot force Gensler to step down as SEC commissioner, he can appoint a new interim commissioner once he takes office on Jan. 20. He can also nominate a new commissioner to the Senate, which must confirm his pick.
Since Republicans regained control of the Senate after gaining several seats in Tuesday's presidential election, Trump's pick would have a good chance of passing the vote, and a new president could take office within a few months.
For example, Gensler was nominated by current President Joe Biden on February 3, 2021, confirmed by the Senate on April 14, and sworn into office on April 17.
Gensler has made enemies in the crypto space for his insistence that the agency already has adequate rules and regulations for the industry, a status quo that crypto leaders disagree with. One key difference is Gensler’s insistence — shared by his predecessor, Trump appointee Jay Clayton — that most cryptocurrency transactions on centralized exchanges violate federal securities laws.
With the exception of the launch of Bitcoin and Ether exchange-traded funds this year, which the SEC approved after years of talks and a legal victory for asset manager Grayscale, the financial regulator has done little to help move crypto companies in the right direction of what is and isn’t legal, since it has yet to determine whether all cryptocurrencies are securities.
Gensler has been at the forefront of these moves, publicly voicing his skepticism of cryptocurrencies. Last month, Gensler reiterated that his views had not changed. Speaking at NYU Law School in Manhattan in October, he said, “With all due respect, the most prominent figures in this field in 2022 [4] are either in prison or awaiting extradition right now.”
Read more: SEC Chairman Gary Gensler on Cryptocurrencies: 'It's unlikely these things will become currencies'
Knowing Trump’s plan for him, Gensler may also choose to resign before the new president takes office in January. If that happens, President Joe Biden will appoint an interim chairman from among the remaining Democratic commissioners until Trump’s inauguration, before Trump appoints his own interim chairman after he takes office.
Trump’s nominee would likely replace Commissioner Caroline Crenshaw, who is currently running for re-nomination. If Gensler resigns from the commission entirely, he would also need to be replaced through the nomination and confirmation process.
A number of cryptocurrencies that the SEC has called unregistered securities in various lawsuits against exchanges have seen their prices rise over the past day or so, including Filecoin {{FIL}}, Algorand {{ALGO}}, Polygon (POL) (formerly known as MATIC), and Near {{NEAR}}, perhaps in anticipation of a more lenient regulatory regime under the Trump administration.