The US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Chair Gary Gensler took yet another dig at the unregulated crypto industry. This time around Chair Gensler reiterated his long-standing argument about how crypto exchange platforms are liable to register with the Wall Street regulator.
Gensler took to Twitter with an exclusive video, explaining how cryptocurrency exchanges are a threat to consumer protection, further seeking them to register under the securities law. He asked the commission’s officials to work with these platforms in an attempt to regulate them much like securities exchanges. Furthermore, he noted that the SEC is also in process of getting certain coins to specifically register as securities.
While emphasizing that in the capital markets, there is an underlying legal framework that safeguards market integrity & protects against fraud and manipulation, Gensler asserted that “there’s no reason to treat the crypto market differently just because a different technology is used”. He further suggested in his tweet that if a company builds a crypto market that protects investors and meets the standard of market regulations, people will more likely have greater confidence in that market.
Gensler Asserts New Crypto Legislation May Threaten $100 Trillion Capital Market
Last month, after the bipartisan legislation for the crypto bill in the US finally came out, Gesler raised concerns about its pro-crypto nature, claiming that it will be unfavorable to the $100 trillion capital market. The new bill which proposed to reassign the oversight for both, crypto spot markets and futures under the jurisdiction of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), was criticized by Gensler.
Gensler disagreed with the proposed bill noting — “we don’t want to undermine the protections we have in a $100 trillion capital market. You don’t want our current stock exchanges, our current mutual funds, our current public companies [to] sort of inadvertently by a stroke of a pen say, “You know what, I want to be non-compliant as well. I want to be outside of the regime’ that I think has been quite a benefit to investors and economic growth over the last 90 years”.
Gensler further restated his prevailing securities argument about majority crypto tokens falling under the securities law. He said, while the SEC is not looking to extend its jurisdiction, “but these tokens are being offered to the public, and the public is hoping for a better future. That’s the characteristics of an investment contract,” a type of security.