The head of the US securities regulator, Gary Gensler, is fed up with answering questions about cryptocurrencies, saying in a recent interview on CNBC that he is getting too many questions related to cryptocurrency. focus on it instead of traditional finance.
“Cryptocurrency is a small part of our overall market,” Gensler said on CNBC's Squawk Box on May 7 in response to Host's question about the prioritization the Securities and Exchange Commission is doing. where lies.
SEC Chair @GaryGensler : "Crypto is a small piece of our overall markets. But it's an outsize piece of the scams and frauds and problems in our markets." pic.twitter.com/UIbTLfTDuN
— Squawk Box (@SquawkCNBC) May 7, 2024
Gensler himself drew a comparison between the “$110 trillion Capital market” that the SEC oversees and the $2.4 trillion cryptocurrency market. He also stated that the cryptocurrency market has its fair share of scams, fraud, and problems because the majority of them do not comply with the US Securities Laws.
Host Andrew Ross Sorkin asked if the media's questions about cryptocurrency are because it seems like crypto is really where the SEC's attention is focused. Gensler quickly denied that “it was actually the media attention, not the SEC.”
"Think about it. I've been on your show about ten times? And in every interview, he asked about cryptocurrency. I guess this will continue to be an interview where the content revolving around cryptocurrency predominates. While the traditional financial market is worth 110 trillion USD. So that must be what the financial media is focusing on.”
SEC Chairman Gary Gensler said.
Gensler then continued to dodge multiple questions from Sorkin, the first of which related to the SEC's Wells Notice sent to Robinhood alleging its cryptocurrency listing and custody service violated securities laws.
Gensler asserts that investors are not receiving required or necessary information about cryptocurrencies and that many of the Token are securities under the law of the land, based on interpretations by the U.S. Supreme Court.
Paul Grewal, the chief legal officer of Coinbase who is embroiled in a legal battle with the SEC, told Gensler on X to “please stop misleading the market — Token are NOT securities.”
“Many of those tokens are securities under the law of the land, as interpreted by the US Supreme Court. So we follow that law.”
— paulgrewal. ETH (@iampaulgrewal) May 7, 2024
Please stop misleading the market—tokens are NOT securities. Their pleadings nonetheless , your own attorneys have admitted this in court. https://t.co/Ti4Xtpe67s
Gensler also shied away from answering whether Ethereum is a security and whether the SEC would approve an ETF, saying only that "those filings will be made at the appropriate time" by five commissioners of the SEC.
Gensler also denied House Financial Services Chairman Patrick McHenry's accusation that he “misled Congress” by “refusing to answer” questions about the SEC's classification of ETH .
“We are not talking about whether we will open an investigation or not. From our perspective, we make no claim as to whether anyone is following the law unless we actually file a lawsuit.”
McHenry argued that Gensler's refusal to answer was an intentional misrepresentation of the SEC's position and cited ConsenSys ' April lawsuit against the SEC accusing the regulator of planning to regulate ETH as a security.
Gensler, however, argued that he told Congress exactly what the SEC was doing.
The SEC has filed six crypto-related lawsuits this year, the agency brought 46 enforcement actions against crypto companies last year, a 10-year high and more than double double compared to 2021.
There are at least a dozen lawsuits brought by the SEC still making their way through US courts, many alleging the entities are selling unregistered securities and operating illegally.
VIC Crypto compiled
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