Gary Gensler, the chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission, was seen in a video confirming that most cryptocurrencies are not securities.
The film was originally released in 2018, back when Gensler taught at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
The crypto community has called out the SEC Chairman’s hypocrisy in light of his recent actions.
A prior video of Gary Gensler, the Chairman of the U.S. Securities and Trade Commission, is being used as punishment by the cryptocurrency organisation on Twitter today. The recently discovered video shows Gensler expressing comments about cryptocurrencies that are remarkably dissimilar from his current position on the industry.
The video is from the autumn of 2018, when Gary Gensler instructed a graduate seminar on “Blockchain and Digital Currency.”
at Massachusetts Institute of Technology. In the video, Gensler is heard saying that in the USA, 3/4 of the market is not regarded as securities. The SEC Chair meant to say three-fourths of the crypto market when he said that.
Similarly, Gensler said to his class:
“There are no securities in three-quarters of the market; there are only commodities and virtual currencies. You’ll hear discussions about initial coin offerings (ICOs), including what constitutes a safety and what does not. Discussion that is relevant and important, but for 75 percent of the market, it has little bearing on legal or regulatory issues.
Gary Gensler’s remarks in the video run counter to what he has been stating since being named Chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission. Gensler has repeatedly asserted that practically all of the cryptocurrency industry, with the exception of Bitcoin, should only ever be seen as securities. He has been more aggressive in light of the ongoing crypto winter.
Crypto Twitter has called Gensler out for his blatant dishonesty over what security in the context of cryptocurrencies entails. Brian Armstrong, the CEO of Coin base, retweeted the video with the message “Wow,” appearing both amused and astonished. Fashion trader Peter Brandt also used Twitter to draw attention to Gensler’s dubious stint as the CFTC’s chief.
