Gary Gensler is remembered as just about the worst SEC chairman for the digital asset industry. Under his leadership, the regulator launched numerous court cases against cryptocurrency companies, preventing them from developing normally. There was also the constant threat of cryptocurrencies being recognised as securities, which would have made it necessary to apply outdated laws to them.

Gensler himself contributed to this by referring to coins with the exception of Bitcoin as unregistered securities. Although as congressmen and analysts have repeatedly pointed out, he has no authority to do so, as it is up to the court to determine whether an asset belongs in this category.


SEC Chairman Gary Gensler

Now the situation promises to change for the better. Donald Trump’s team is already working on likely candidates for the future head of the SEC. Most likely, he will have a favourable attitude towards crypto, as Trump’s election campaign was based on it, among other things.

A new win for the cryptocurrency market

Gensler began his Twitter thread by briefly announcing his resignation date. He also summarised in a couple of sentences his own experience at the SEC. Here’s the relevant quote on the matter, as cited by The Block.

The SEC is a great agency. The staff and the Commission are guided by a sound strategy to protect investors, promote capital formation, and make the markets work for investors and issuers alike. The staff includes truly genuine public servants.

SEC Chairman Gary Gensler

Gary also mentioned current President Joe Biden’s crucial role in shaping his career path. He continues.

It has been the honour of a lifetime to serve alongside them on behalf of ordinary Americans and to ensure that our stock exchanges remain the best in the world. I thank the President of the United States for entrusting me with this incredible responsibility. The SEC has fulfilled our mission and enforced the law without fear or favour.


Of course, it didn't. In particular, it missed the collapse of cryptocurrency exchange FTX, which resulted in billions of dollars in losses for investors. What is particularly amusing here is that Gensler personally met with the former head of this platform, Sam Bankman-Fried, meaning that the crime was essentially happening under his nose.


Recall that Joe Biden nominated Gensler to head the Commission on 18 February 2021 – shortly after his legal powers took effect. The US Senate confirmed the nomination on 14 April 2021.

During his time at the SEC, Gensler has led a campaign to promote centralised clearing in the Treasury markets, introduced changes to performance-based pay for executives and dedicated himself to “investor protection” in crypto. However, Gary has always interpreted the latter in a particular way.

Meme with Gary Gensler

Because of this, for many representatives of the crypto industry, Gensler became a real villain. Therefore, the reactions and memes published under his Twitter track were appropriate.

Nevertheless, the SEC’s official statement from last Thursday noted the following.

In the last full fiscal year, 18 percent of tips, complaints and referrals to the SEC were related to cryptocurrencies, according to the SEC’s Office of Inspector General. This is despite the fact that the crypto market makes up less than 1 per cent of the U.S. capital markets.

During his tenure, Gensler repeatedly argued that most cryptocurrencies qualify as securities and urged crypto companies to register with the SEC. Some members of the crypto industry have fought back and said such registration is impossible. This is also because the rules for controlling digital assets are based on securities laws that are nearly a century old.

Among the major cryptocurrency companies on the SEC’s victim list are giants such as Binance and Coinbase, accused of violating securities laws. The SEC alleged that some cryptocurrencies available on these companies’ platforms are unregistered securities. Thus, the platforms allegedly violate disclosure and investor protection requirements.

SEC Chairman Gary Gensler

In addition to large exchanges, the SEC has also turned its attention to token issuers and decentralised finance (DeFi) projects. For example, cases have been filed against Ripple and Terra with allegations of unregistered sales of securities.

Under Gensler’s leadership, the SEC has focused on yield-related initiatives like stealth and lending platforms. For example, BlockFi was sued for offerings that the regulator deemed to be unregistered investment products. Such actions demonstrated the SEC’s desire to extend traditional principles of financial market regulation to innovative assets.

Not all of the SEC’s campaigns have been successful, however. In the case against Ripple, the court partially sided with the company and ruled that retail sales of XRP through exchanges are not a violation of securities laws, although sales to institutional investors still fall under such definitions.

SEC logo

The debacle has called into question the SEC’s approach to regulating the coin industry and sparked a debate about the need for new legislative initiatives instead of using old regulations for modern technology.

The rejoinders from the crypto community clearly reflected their attitude towards the current SEC chairman. They were deservedly harsh, while also racking up thousands of likes. Here’s a rejoinder from a user under the Chainlink pseudonym Red Pill.

Thank you for not protecting anyone from real fraud. You can be called a complete failure that has set America back years in cryptocurrency development.

The XRP cryptocurrency community, which Gensler has been pushing particularly hard, has been active in the comments. Here’s a rejoinder from user JackTheRippler.

Congratulations, Gary Gensler. Your firing is the biggest achievement of your tenure as SEC Chairman!

Well Vincent Kennedy was more succinct.

You’re fired.

A tweet in response to the news of Gary Gensler’s firing as SEC Chairman


The news of Gary Gensler's impending firing is unequivocally good news. However, it is important to realise that the current head of the SEC has done a lot of damage to the industry and stalled its growth at the same time. Had this not happened, the cryptosphere would be in a much more favourable position now.


Look for more interesting things in our crypto chat room. We look forward to seeing you there today so you don’t miss the bullrun development.

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