Gensler said that Bitcoin is not a security now (sic!), but other thousands of cryptocurrencies pose a threat to the investing public, and it’s his duty as a law enforcement agent to protect these people from fraud, money laundering and other crimes. “There has been too much of that in this field,” Gensler said. More than that, he is sure that the exchanges are “trading against their customers.”
As for Bitcoin, Gensler compared the first cryptocurrency to gold and noted that it is a highly volatile speculative asset, but people want to trade it. However, Gensler said he cannot predict the future of Bitcoin, and he doesn’t know whether it will have any value in 10 or 20 years from now.
Sorkin said that Gensler’s attempts to fight Bitcoin were in vain as at the end of Gensler’s era, Bitcoin was as popular as never before. At the same time, Gensler failed to prevent this great bubble from blowing (if it proved to be a bubble). Twice, Gensler dodged to comment on how he feels about his role in both of these scenarios, none of which portrays him as a winner. Listing his main achievements as the SEC chair, he mentioned reforms in the stock market policy and other sectors not related to cryptocurrencies.
Afterword
It is interesting how Gary Gensler went from a tech-savvy official genuinely intrigued by the potential of blockchain technology to a rigid gatekeeper in just two years. In 2019, he wrote an inspired editorial on the future of Bitcoin for CoinDesk. In 2021, he became the most notorious cryptocurrency foe in SEC history.
A person who famously called stablecoins “poker chips” for gambling, he dedicated his time in the SEC to legal battles with Binance, Coinbase, Ripple, and Gemini while overlooking the FTX collapse. Hopefully, now that he is retiring, he will find peace. He says he never owned any cryptocurrencies. Who knows what’s next for Gensler, will he soften his heart to Bitcoin?