Gary Gensler, the new chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission, said crypto could only become mainstream if authorities set clear standards, and he’s targeting tighter regulation for the $1.6 trillion digital-asset sector.
Gensler said he believes investors need more protection against fraud because digital assets, according to him, might boost economic advancement and become more extensively used.
Gensler also stated that he wants digital assets like bitcoin and other crypto goods to be regulated in the same way as equities, bonds, and commodity-related trading instruments are. On Tuesday, he told the Aspen Security Forum that newer technologies like stablecoins and decentralized finance are among his top priorities, goods that are attracting more mainstream investors.
Gensler, who taught a cryptocurrency course at MIT, said the technology was neutral or even fascinating to him, but he was not neutral on investor protection. “As a country, we have a responsibility to protect those investors against fraud,” he said.
The SEC’s current powers, on the other hand, limit him to policing crypto assets that satisfy the definition of a security.
So far, the SEC’s strategy has been to sue token sellers on an individual basis. Every enforcement case the SEC has initiated has resulted in a win, whether through settlements or trial verdicts. As a result, public crypto token sales have mostly ceased, with businesses now confining their offerings to private investors only.