Gary Gensler Explains Why SEC Is Taking Litigation-Heavy Strategy to Regulate Crypto

U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Chairman Gary Gensler has explained why the securities regulator is taking a litigation-heavy strategy to regulate the crypto industry. The SEC chair insisted that enforcement actions against crypto firms are not brought with a political agenda, emphasizing that he is protecting the American public. “This is a field where the American public is at risk and being harmed every day on these platforms that are commingling and often trading against their customers,” he cautioned.

Gensler Reveals Why SEC Focuses on Litigation in Regulating Crypto

The chairman of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Gary Gensler, testified before the House Financial Services Committee on Wednesday. During the hearing, several members of Congress raised questions about cryptocurrency and the regulation of crypto tokens.

Congressman John Rose (R-TN) asked Gensler: “Regarding cryptocurrencies … I’m interested in why you have pursued a litigation-heavy strategy despite the fact that neither you nor any of your senior staff are litigators — neither your Chief of Staff nor your Policy Director or even your General Counsel. Why have you settled on such a litigation-heavy strategy to address the cryptocurrency market?” Gensler replied:

Frankly, it’s because the field is so rife with hucksters and fraudsters and non-compliant parties … This is a field where the American public is at risk and being harmed every day on these platforms that are commingling and often trading against their customers.

Nonetheless, the SEC chairman added: “We’ve also done rulemaking: one related to broker-dealers that was completed a number of years ago and then others related to the definition of exchange and the custody role.”

The congressman from Tennessee then told Gensler: “In my view, it seems that these cases are brought with an explicit political agenda, not a substantive legal one.” Gensler quickly refuted: #crypto2023 #cryptonews