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What you need to know
- Gary Gensler is the Chair of the Securities and Exchange Commission. He will be stepping down on Jan. 20th, when Donald Trump takes office as president.
- Gensler, who was appointed for a five-year tenure in 2021, is quitting a little over a year early.
- The SEC chair had come under fire from the cryptocurrency industry for the SEC's enforcement approach under his leadership.
- Trump, the president-elect, has now been given the opportunity to nominate someone to be in charge of this regulatory agency. Gensler had previously promised to be replaced.
Gary Gensler is the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission’s chair. He will step down on Jan. 20. This opens the door for Donald Trump to name a new leader of financial market regulation.
Gensler was appointed to a 5-year term by President Joe Biden in 2021. The cryptocurrency industry has been very critical of his actions during this time. He's also faced criticism from Trump.
On the campaign trail in July, speaking at a cryptocurrency conference, Trump had promised to fire Gensler on "Day 1" if elected. Gensler, however, has chosen to leave the SEC the day before the president-elect’s inauguration.
Gensler is Criticized by Crypto Industry
Gensler was appointed to his current position a few weeks after the GameStop frenzy of January 2021, but has become more well-known for suing crypto exchanges such as Binance, Coinbase, and Kraken for selling unregistered securities.
“During Chair Gensler’s tenure, the agency brought actions against crypto intermediaries for fraud, wash trading, registration violations, and other misconduct,” The SEC released a statement in a release to the media on Thursday.
Even though Gensler has a crypto enforcement agenda, the spot bitcoin exchange traded funds (ETFs) were approved in early 2018. They give mainstream investors an regulated way of investing indirectly in bitcoin via their brokerage account.
Washington State is a crypto-friendly environment
Trump has been a strong supporter of bitcoins and other crypto currencies. However, the recent elections have also seen more crypto-friendly members of Congress.
Since Trump’s election, bitcoin has surged to record highs amid speculation over Gensler being replaced and growing optimism regarding the future crypto regulation in the U.S.
Prediction markets are betting on former acting U.S. Comptroller of the Currency Brian Brooks, former SEC Commissioner Paul Atkins, crypto attorney Teresa Goody Guillén, and former SEC Commissioner Dan Gallagher as the front-runners to be the next SEC chair.
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