SEC Chair Gary Gensler Hails Satoshi Nakamoto

Gary Gensler, the Chairman of the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has joined crypto proponents to congratulate Satoshi Nakamoto for the 15th anniversary of the publication of the Bitcoin (BTC) Whitepaper.

Recognizing Revolution Started by Satoshi Nakamoto

As the overseer of the broader financial market in the US, Gary Gensler recognized the role of Satoshi Nakamoto in starting the crypto revolution as we have it today. Per his post on X, the SEC Chair said;

“If Satoshi Nakamoto went as Satoshi Nakamoto for Halloween, would we be able to tell? Happy 15th anniversary to Satoshi’s famous white paper that started crypto.”

Since the introduction of the Bitcoin Whitepaper, a market worth $1.27 trillion has been created featuring far more than 20,000 altcoins, thousands of Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs), and Decentralized Finance (DeFi) protocols amongst others. Though this thriving ecosystem started with Bitcoin, it is currently beyond BTC and expanding some more.

Over the past few years, the SEC has been actively fighting fraud in the industry and has sued some crypto businesses alongside, a move industry experts claim is a witch hunt. One of the high-profile cases in recent times is the Ripple lawsuit filed by former SEC Chair Jay Clayton. 

While the Ripple lawsuit is still pending, there have been some wins for the company as the charges against its executives have been dropped and XRP declared non-Security by Judge Analisa Torres. Despite the backlash from this case and others it has received thus far, Gary Gensler in his latest post still cautioned crypto firms, noting they need to comply with securities laws.

Industry Demand from Gary Gensler

Many crypto enthusiasts have flooded Gary Gensler’s timeline to voice their core demands from the agency. This demand is enmeshed in the quest for Bitcoin spot ETF approvals, a product industry players have been pursuing over the past 10 years.

Based on confirmation from SEC Chair Gensler, there are currently about 8 to 10 applications it is reviewing. Among the firms awaiting feedback from the regulator include BlackRock, Fidelity, Ark Invest, and Bitwise.

Two key defining factors this time are the caliber of applicants featuring BlackRock with a good track record of securing approvals for its ETF applications and pressure from lawmakers seeking to compel the SEC to approve the applications.

With Gensler recognizing Satoshi Nakamoto, chances are he may be ready to stir the next phase of the market evolution through Bitcoin spot ETF approvals.