Kamala Harris Could Replace Gary Gensler With These Crypto-Friendly Candidates

According to Bloomberg sources with knowledge of the matter, Kamala Harris’s transition team is debating whom to recommend to the White House for the position of Gary Gensler’s replacement.

Chris Brummer, a Georgetown Law professor, and Erica Williams, PCAOB Chair, are being considered. Both candidates are more crypto-friendly than Gensler.

However, Vice President Harris has yet to say whether she plans to oust Gensler, and it is unclear how seriously Brummer, Williams, or any other potential candidate is being considered. Her staff focuses primarily on whipping up voter enthusiasm while juggling a long list of pressing policy issues and a tight schedule.

Kamala Harris Team Weighing Candidates for Possible SEC Chair Replacement

According to sources, the Harris transition team is taking a close look at candidates to replace Gary Gensler as head of the SEC. Georgetown Law professor Chris Brummer, who is, according to rumours, more crypto-friendly, and Public Company Accounting Oversight Board Chair Erica Williams, could fill his seat.

Kamala Harris is indeed trying to get crypto community votes. Recently she announced her plans to back a crypto regulation framework that protects black men who invest in and own cryptocurrencies.

Of course, none of those deliberations has yet translated into a concrete commitment by Vice President that she will oust Gensler. For now, the team is more focused on the voter mobilization effort. They have limited time since she entered the race and other substantial policy concerns.

One cleared its throat and said, “It is less clear who the frontrunner is.” That would be a function of some Kamala Harris camp concerns about coming out as openly pro-crypto ahead of the election. That might turn off progressive voters who are wary of digital assets. 

Because the law is silent on that specific point, it remains the legal view that a president can remove a SEC Chair from the position of Commissioner. Tradition holds that an SEC Chair resigns upon the inauguration of a president during his term. So practically, such a demoted Chair would not stay on the Commission as a lesser member.

Blueprint Founder as Potential SEC Chair Candidate

Chris Brummer founded Bluprynt this year to help crypto companies navigate the European MiCA regulations. He has a parallel career in academia and regulatory circles. 

Brummer is hardly new to regulation. He was on the Biden administration’s financial regulation transition team, focused on Treasury. His history goes even deeper than that: Barrack Obama nominated him to be the Commodity Futures Trading Commission; President Donald Trump later withdrew the nomination. More recently, the Biden administration also considered him for that spot.

One source familiar with Brummer, though not with his current status as an SEC chair candidate, called him “better qualified than Gary Gensler” and a significant olive branch the Kamala Harris campaign could offer the crypto industry.

Current PCAOB Chair Erica Williams has supported initiatives for improved investor protection in collaboration with the agency. Strong moves have characterized her tenure: slapping a historic fine of $25 million on KPMG Netherlands for exam cheating and another $900,000 against its affiliate in Colombia owing to quality control issues, putting the general fines imposed this year at over $20 million so far.

While not particularly vocal on cryptocurrency, she did introduce an examination program to PCAOB to combat growing risks, including crypto. Following the FTX 2022 collapse, she said that PCAOB’s authority only covers audits of public companies and broker-dealers.

Advocating for Crypto Legislation and Consensus Building

People close to Williams and Chris Brummer, another contender to become SEC Chairman, have said both hold progressive views on financial regulation. Both are friendly to crypto legislation moving forward but hard-nosed about pursuing the bad actors.

Both are known to be consensus builders, while their fellow candidate, Gary Gensler, is known as heavy-handed. If appointed, Williams or Brummer would be the first non-white Chair of the SEC. Other candidates reportedly being considered are also people of color.

Still, there are influential people from cryptospace who strongly support Kamala Harris. One of them is Ripple Co-founder Chris Larsen who openly donates and supports Harris’ team. He recently explained that support comes from his belief in her understanding of the innovation economy and her experience in California’s tech hub.