By Matthew Foldi
Compiled by: Azuma, Odaily Odaily
Editor's note: Last month, as Trump's election campaign was pushed to a peak by the shooting, speculation grew that Gary Gensler, the current chairman of the SEC and "public enemy number one of cryptocurrency," would soon step down.
However, as Harris succeeded Biden as the Democratic presidential candidate, her chances of winning have gradually increased over the past month, and she has even surpassed Trump recently. At the same time, Gensler's political career seems to be about to take a "turnaround." On August 19, local time in the United States, Washington Reporter, an Internet media focusing on Washington's political trends, published an article stating that if Harris is elected, Gensler may be nominated as the U.S. Treasury Secretary.
The following is the original content of Washington Reporter, translated by Odaily Odaily.
Washington Reporter Original content
Although SEC Chairman Gary Gensler has publicly stated that he is unwilling to leave his current position, several senior Senate staffers have told Washington Reporter that if Vice President Kamala Harris wins the presidential election in November, she plans to nominate Gensler as the new Treasury Secretary. This rumor has been confirmed by some top Republicans.
In an interview with the Washington Reporter, Republican Rep. Tom Emmer of Minnesota warned that Harris might choose Gensler or Democratic Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts as her Treasury secretary. Emmer warned that such a decision would be a disaster for the economy.
"Gensler has litigated and lost every time he has fought," Emmer said. "That era has passed. Gensler needs to move on. His government career needs to end."
Senior Republican Senate sources predicted that if Harris wins, Gensler will face "full Republican opposition," but he will likely rely on broad Democratic support. Two potential votes in support of Gensler come from Rep. Elissa Slotkin, D-Mich., and Rep. Ruben Gallego, D-Ariz. — who ironically received millions of dollars in funding from the crypto-backed PAC Fairshake.
Odaily Odaily Note: Earlier this month, the US Republican Party expressed strong dissatisfaction with Fairshake's support for Democratic candidates who opposed cryptocurrency in key Senate races. The organization supported Gallego and Slotkin in Arizona and Michigan, and Republican candidates Kari Lake and Mike Rogers protested against this behavior, believing that it would undermine the Republican Party's partnership with the cryptocurrency industry and questioned Fairshake's motives.
Slotkin and Gallego, who both have a record of anti-cryptocurrency actions in Congress, did not directly respond to inquiries about whether they would vote for Gensler, who is expected to face a Republican block on his nomination.
In addition to the possibility of serving as Treasury secretary in a Harris cabinet, there have been rumors that Gensler might step down as SEC chairman, allowing Joe Biden to nominate a new chairman before the November election.
Katie Biber, Paradigm's chief legal officer, described this possibility as the so-called "Gensler plan," which would ensure a Democratic majority at the SEC even if Trump chooses to fire Gensler after being elected. Under the plan, Gensler would become an ordinary commissioner, and Biden could appoint a new successor during his presidency, such as Caroline Crenshaw, who has repeatedly expressed hostility to the crypto industry.
Odaily Odaily Note: The "Gensler Plan" can essentially be understood as the Democratic Party's defense plan at the SEC, a hub of power. This move can ensure that the Democratic Party holds a majority in the SEC before 2025, even if the Republicans win the presidential election.
A congressional source who works on SEC affairs told the Washington Reporter that the "Gensler plan" is unlikely, but not impossible, and the only possibility that Gensler would agree to the plan is that Harris has promised to appoint him as Treasury Secretary if elected.
Multiple verification results
The Washington Reporter report caused a stir in the cryptocurrency community. After the report was leaked, many media and professionals also verified or analyzed it based on their own sources.
Caitlyn Long, CEO of Custodia Bank, said on social media that several Democrats responded to her saying that the rumor (Gensler's nomination for Treasury Secretary) was false. Long also mentioned that one Democrat even believed that the source of the rumor was Gensler himself and that it was just his political strategy.
In addition, Bloomberg ETF analyst Eric Balchunas also commented on this, saying that although Gensler did work for the Treasury Secretary in the Clinton cabinet, he still believes that this is a completely fabricated rumor.
Balchunas believes that the source of this incident is the Republican Congressman Emmer mentioned above: "If you are a Republican and want to help consolidate votes from the cryptocurrency community, it is hard to think of anything more terrible than Gensler gaining more power. Even if this is not true, it is very lethal."
