US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) chair Gary Gensler testifies during a Senate Banking Committee hearing on Capitol Hill on 12 September 2023 in Washington, DC. Photo: Drew Angerer/ Getty Images/ AFP
The crypto world was about to pop the bubbly in celebration of the 17 April X “resignation” of Gary Gensler, when the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) chair served up some smug follow-up posts.
“It’s been an honor to serve as [SEC] Chair. Over the past 3 years, I’ve seen firsthand how the incredible staff at the SEC serve investors and issuers alike,” Gensler wrote in his X post.
In following posts, Gensler made proud mention of the “more than 2,000 enforcement actions” and rules that the SEC has finalised under his watchful eye.
To many, this looked like a farewell message thread…
Crypto X users went into overdrive and wasted no time in commenting on Gensler’s post with great gusto…
Their joy, however, was short-lived when Gensler added in a follow-up post:
“And we’re not done”.
The SEC chair’s “resignation” post went viral with more than 1.1 million views.
Ironically, many responses to Gensler’s X post ended up gaining more traction than the original post itself.
“A legendary and respectable troll thread, honestly [in my opinion],” wrote crypto trader and influencer Jordan Fish, who goes by the name of Cobie.
“This really does feel like a resignation tweet at first, but then it’s clearly not,” wrote Bloomberg Litigation Analyst Elliott Stein.
“Gotta think that was intentional, given Gensler’s seeming penchant for trolling.”
Gensler’s “Were not done” post is just another example of the enforcement-focused regulatory streak the SEC has adopted under his watch.
Since US president Joe Biden tapped Gensler to be SEC chair in February 2021, the regulatory body has initiated high-profile lawsuits against prominent crypto exchanges, such as Binance, Kraken and Coinbase.
Consequently, the SEC’s policing of digital assets and the trading of unregistered securities has, according to Coin Telegraph, led to a record number of enforcement measures, intensifying the regulatory atmosphere in the crypto industry.
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Once upon a time, Gensler was – surprisingly – not averse to joining the crypto industry.
Forbes refers to the “remarkable evolution in Gensler’s views on crypto”.
According to the publication, the SEC chair was once regarded as a forward-thinking regulator who saw the innovative potential of digital assets.
This “friend of the space” however changed his tune over the years.
In 2019, Gensler reportedly offered to advise the crypto exchange, even meeting with Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao in Japan.
Shortly after taking office in 2021, he changed his stance on crypto, with the regulator calling the industry a “Wild West” fraught with fraud and abuse, according to Forbes.
After crypto exchange FTX folded in 2022, Gensler’s skepticism turned to outright hostility evident in his “regulation by enforcement” approach, especially when it comes to the classification of cryptocurrencies as securities.
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