The SEC Chairman was unambiguous that he wanted more stringent regulations over crypto to protect investors.

Speaking on a Bloomberg interview on Tuesday, Gary Gensler, chairman of the United States Securities and Exchange Commission, said he supported more regulatory protection of the crypto space. His comments had a negative effect on the price of bitcoin, the leading cryptocurrency, which at one stage fell below $38,000. (Yahoo Finance)

“While I’m neutral on the technology, even intrigued – I spent three years teaching it, leaning into it – I’m not neutral about investor protection,” Gensler said. “If somebody wants to speculate, that’s their choice, but we have a role as a nation to protect those investors against fraud.” He has asked for Congressional authority to monitor crypto exchanges.

At the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Gensler developed a 29-hour course titled Blockchain and Money. The course videos have had millions of views. In the Bloomberg interview, Gensler was clear that digital assets could spark economic progress just as technology had done through the ages. However, the process must be accompanied by judicious regulation.

However, the SEC head was non-committal on the likelihood of the SEC approving a bitcoin ETF.

SEC “initiatives”

In a comment that may unnerve the crypto industry, Gensler said there were at least seven “initiatives” that the SEC staff were looking at using all of their authority: Initial coin offerings, trading venues, lending platforms, decentralized finance, stable value coins, custody, and ETFs and other coin funds.

However, regulations governing crypto exchanges might be a more direct and effective way for the SEC to oversee the crypto space, according to Gensler.

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Image Credit: MIT|Golub Center For Finance And Policy