As his term as chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) draws to a close, Gary Gensler is increasing his public interventions. This time, the main person defended himself on the way in which the agency has regulated the cryptocurrency market in recent years while discussing the status of Bitcoin (BTC) and Ether (ETH).
Bitcoin and Ether are not securities in the eyes of the SEC and Gary Gensler
As part of an interview on Yahoo Finance live, Gary Gensler, still chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) spoke about the 2 cryptocurrencies with the largest market capitalization: Bitcoin (BTC) and Ether (ETH).
In response to a question, Gary Gensler said the agency n / A ” never said » that these 2 cryptocurrencies were securities. He even claimed that under the presidency of his predecessor, Jay Clayton, the SEC had done the same.
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Intrigued by this answer, the interviewer asked her to provide more details. “ We did not say that Ether was a security. I think investors in Bitcoin and Ether already had access to these products even before we allowed ETFs associated with these cryptocurrencies, »said the current head of the SEC.
In the past, Gary Gensler had already been invited by several American legislators to clarify the status of Ether. Thus, Patrick McHenry, former Republican representative and former chairman of the Financial Services Committee of the House of Representatives, had insisted on obtaining a response from the president of the SEC, in vain. “ There is a lack of clarity here, can you at least agree with that? » underlined the congressman at the time.
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Gary Gensler tries to justify the actions of the SEC
Gary Gensler then spoke his vision of the cryptocurrency market. For him, the actions carried out by the SEC in recent years did not focus on the 2 most capitalized cryptocurrencies in the sector, but on all the others:
More than 70%, maybe even 80% of the cryptocurrency market is tied to Bitcoin and Ether. I really lean into the other partthese other 10,000 to 15,000 tokens, which can only really persist because investors stake their funds on them, in essence, betting on a project. However, these investors must be able to have access to the different characteristics of these projects. The law states that you are supposed to obtain this information. Except that at present, they are not in compliance.
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Throughout Gary Gensler's tenure as SEC Chairman, the relationship between the agency and the cryptocurrency industry has deteriorated. The evolution of the legal framework of crypto in the eyes of the regulatory authority can also be observed through the Ripple affair.
A few days before the end of his mandate and of the arrival of Paul Atkins as president of the SECGary Gensler made multiple interventions, scorning crypto companies and warning investors about the viability of the projects.
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Source: Yahoo Finance
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Investments in cryptocurrencies are risky. There is no guaranteed high return, a product with high return potential involves high risk. This risk-taking must be in line with your project, your investment horizon and your capacity to lose part of this savings. Do not invest if you are not prepared to lose all or part of your capital