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Gary Gensler did not say he would leave the SEC before Donald Trump took office but pointed to the commission’s record on crypto enforcement and approving ETFs.
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United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Chair Gary Gensler, potentially only weeks away from being removed by President-elect Donald Trump, has reiterated his position on crypto policy and enforcement.
In prepared remarks for a Nov. 14 speech at the Practicing Law Institute’s 56th Annual Institute on Securities Regulation, Gensler said his focus for digital assets while leading the commission was having parties “register and give proper disclosure to the public” for roughly 10,000 tokens considered securities. He also pointed to the SEC’s record of approving spot Bitcoin (BTC) exchange-traded funds and BTC futures investment vehicles under his watch but suggested that some crypto firms had not followed “common-sense rules of the road.”
“This is a field in which over the years there has been significant investor harm,” said Gensler. “Further, aside from speculative investing and possible use for illicit activities, the vast majority of crypto assets have yet to prove out sustainable use cases. Everything we’ve done is focused on ensuring compliance with our laws.”
Related: How a new SEC chair can boost Ether price and ETF inflows
Though the SEC chair’s term ends in June 2026, Trump promised crypto users that he intended to fire Gensler “on day one” if elected, marking a potentially different direction the commission could take on crypto enforcement. Experts have suggested that the president-elect could not remove Gensler without cause, nor has the SEC chair suggested he would resign.
Uncertain regulatory future for digital assets
Since Trump won reelection on Nov. 5, many crypto users have been calling on the Republican to keep his promises to the industry. These included having all BTC “made in the USA,” commutating the sentence of Silk Road founder Ross Ulbricht, and stopping any development of a central bank digital currency.
It’s unclear if Trump has the authority to remove Gensler from the SEC. Any replacement would require Senate approval, but the Republican suggested he would attempt to bypass the chamber by making recess appointments for all of his cabinet and staff. At the time of publication, Trump had not announced any potential replacement for Gensler.
Magazine: Godzilla vs. Kong: SEC faces fierce battle against crypto’s legal firepower
This article first appeared at Cointelegraph.com News
