Written by: BitpushNews
The crypto industry is overjoyed, as the term of the US SEC Chairman Gary Gensler will end on January 20, 2025, the same day as Trump's inauguration ceremony.
Gensler not only will resign from his leadership position, but also will no longer serve as a commissioner. After this news was released, BTC surged to $99,014.21 in the short term on the same day, and the 100,000 mark seems imminent.
In his statement, Gensler thanked President Joe Biden and his colleagues, saying that the SEC is "an amazing institution...it has been the honor of my lifetime to serve and represent the interests of the American people in ensuring our capital markets remain the best in the world."
Shortly after the news of Gensler's departure, Ian Katz, Managing Director of Capital Alpha Partners, commented that the crypto industry has "gotten its wish", and the next SEC chairman will be more crypto-friendly than Gensler.
From Blockchain Professor to Crypto Nemesis
Gary Gensler, a graduate of the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, has a strong academic background in the blockchain field.
Prior to joining the SEC, he was a professor at the MIT Sloan School of Management and has publicly expressed interest in blockchain technology on many occasions.
During his time as a professor at MIT, Gensler taught a course on "Blockchain and Money" exploring the potential applications of blockchain in the financial sector.
In 2018, he assigned his students the task of reading the Bitcoin whitepaper in his MIT classroom.
MIT has made Gensler's course available as an open course, which can be watched for free on YouTube.
However, after taking office as the Chairman of the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on April 17, 2021, he has become the "arch-villain" of the crypto industry.
So where does the industry's "hatred" for Gensler come from?
Gensler has repeatedly emphasized that many cryptocurrency projects are suspected of violating securities laws.
After the FTX collapse in 2022, Gensler led a crackdown across the entire industry, suing companies like Binance, Binance.US, Coinbase, Kraken, and Shapeshift, accusing them of being unregistered securities brokers and clearing agencies.
In 2023, the SEC's regulatory pressure on the crypto industry reached an unprecedented level. Data shows that the agency initiated 46 enforcement actions, a 53% increase year-over-year. The total fines amounted to $2.89 billion, with $281 million in settlements reached that year.
According to the Blockchain Association, which represents nearly 100 industry participants including Grayscale and Paradigm, Gensler has initiated more than 100 lawsuits against the digital asset industry during his tenure at the SEC. The association's members have spent approximately $429 million on litigation-related expenses.
This tough stance has led to increasingly tense relations between Gensler and the cryptocurrency community. Many industry insiders believe that the SEC's regulations are overly strict, and its regulatory framework is not suitable for the emerging cryptocurrency industry.
However, Gensler has also done some good things for crypto. In January this year, the SEC approved a Bitcoin spot price-tracking exchange-traded fund (ETF), and later approved an Ethereum ETF, allowing investors to more easily purchase cryptocurrencies without taking on risk, opening a window for widespread crypto adoption.
From Gensler's perspective, he is not completely rejecting cryptocurrencies, but rather hopes to bring traditional finance into the space in a compliant manner. After the ETFs were approved, Wall Street financial giants rushed into the crypto market, with Goldman Sachs, BlackRock, and Franklin Templeton all entering the crypto market to grab a share of the pie, further accelerating the integration of crypto into the mainstream financial system.
In an interview, Gensler stated that crypto could be beneficial for economic development, but on the condition that they are subject to strong regulation, using the example that the automotive industry only became popular after the introduction of traffic lights and speed limits.
Trump's Victory, Gensler's Successor Undecided
Trump, who once called Bitcoin a "scam", has now fully embraced cryptocurrencies in this election, promising to turn the US into the "global crypto capital" and launching a family crypto business, while vowing to fire Gensler on his first day in office.
Gensler has chosen to resign voluntarily, and Trump has not yet nominated a successor to the chairman. Potential candidates include former SEC member and current private practice lawyer Teresa Goody Guillén, Robinhood's Chief Legal Officer Dan Gallagher, former Acting Comptroller of the Currency Brian Brooks (who briefly managed Binance.US), and former SEC Commissioner/Token Alliance Co-Chair Paul Atkins.
The new SEC chairman may continue some of Gensler's regulatory policies, but may also introduce a new regulatory framework.
In Gensler's absence, the Commission will be composed of two members from each party. Before the Republicans gain a majority on the Commission, major policy changes or enforcement decisions may take longer to implement.
The SEC's major decisions (dismissals, settlements, and enforcement actions) are not solely at the discretion of the chairman. For example, litigation-related decisions, even under the close supervision of the chairman's office, ultimately require the approval of a majority of the commissioners, and the Republicans will not have a majority on the SEC for the time being.
According to Tom Krysa, a former SEC enforcement attorney and current partner at Foley & Lardner, at the federal appeals court level, the withdrawal of cases is overseen by the agency's general counsel. While this office may seek delays under the close watch of the chairman's office, the withdrawal of appeals requires the approval of a majority of the commissioners.
Krysa believes that if Trump nominates Mark Uyeda as the acting SEC chairman, the political landscape of the Commission will shift, but there will not be an immediate "180-degree turnaround". Even as the terms of the Democratic commissioners are about to expire, they will still have the ability to influence the policy direction in the short term.
As for the SEC's handling of pending cases, this area is likely to see more rapid changes. The new chairman can influence the trajectory of these cases by adjusting the agency's enforcement strategy.
Trump has promised to appoint an SEC chairman who supports the crypto industry. How the new administration will handle the SEC's various pending lawsuits against crypto companies/projects remains to be seen.
But one thing is certain: everyone in the industry is waiting for the arrival of $100,000/BTC.
