SEC Chief Gary Gensler Says This Could Make Crypto Platforms “Irrelevant”

The US Securities and Exchange Commission chief Gary Gensler in a recent interview with Financial Times talked about the cryptocurrency ecosystem and how the agency plans to regulate it. Gensler during his interview acknowledged the pace at which the crypto ecosystem is growing and currently above $2 trillion valuations. However, he also noted that the vastness of the crypto market calls for regulations, otherwise it may fear losing public trust and become irrelevant.

Gensler stressed that the road to success for the crypto market is through regulations as it would make it more trustworthy. He explained,

“At about $2 trillion of value worldwide, [the crypto market is] at the level and the nature that if it’s going to have any relevance five and 10 years from now, it’s going to be within a public policy framework. History just tells you, it doesn’t last long outside. Finance is about trust, ultimately.”

Gensler over the past month has reiterated the same stance about the need for strong investor protection regulations in the crypto market. However, the agency or the chief hasn’t really done much beyond the suggestions until now. Recently the SEC chief had written back to Senator Elizabeth Warren assuring about the measures that the agency is taking to ensure investor protection, but also called for more power from the Congress to supervise the vast crypto market.

SEC Chief to Focus on Crypto Trading Platfrom

SEC chief during his recent interview also said that the agency’s focus is on crypto platforms where 95% of crypto trading activity takes place there. There has been an increased demand for crypto regulations especially from lawmakers who feel retail investors are at higher risk due to the current unregulated environment.

The pending regulations could also be attributed to the lack of clarity among lawmakers and regulators regarding the status of digital assets as security and non-security. The SEC is already battling it out against Ripple in the court and the outcome of the case could determine the fate of many other crypto tokens whether they are eligible to offer their services or not.