SEC Chief says he is intrigued by crypto, but can’t overlook investor protection

The Security and Exchange Commission in the US has maintained that it would work towards greater investor protection plans in the coming days. Gary Gensler during an interview with Bloomberg revealed that his deep interest in the subject won’t come in the way of necessary regulatory oversight. Gensler was expected to have a crypto-friendly approach because of his deep understanding of the subject, but his early testimonies and actions indicate that he would maintain a similar stance to his predecessor.

“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. If somebody wants to speculate, that’s their choice, but we have a role as a nation to protect those investors against fraud.”

Gensler also reinstated the need for bringing the crypto market under the jurisdiction of the SEC. He said there are crypto assets like Bitcoin which act as currencies but are considered a commodity, but there are thousands of other tokens which are definitely Security and thus must comply with SEC rules.

Gensler: Regulations would boost crypto market

The growing demand for crypto assets by retail and institutional investors alike has made many US senators demand regulatory framework and investor protection need. Gensler who has reinstated the need for investor protection rules in the crypto market ever since taking as the chief said regulations would boost the crypto market. He gave the example of the automobile industry suggesting the industry went mainstream only after the government laid out driving rules and made it safer for everyone.

“It’s only with bringing things inside—and sort of clearly within our public policy goals—that a technology has a chance of broader adoption,”

However, Gensler didn’t reveal much on their plans about Bitcoin ETF regulations, something the US investors are eagerly waiting for. Gensler also revealed that they plan to bring in new rules that would require companies to disclose their carbon emission and other environmental risks.

The crypto market has more than doubled in the first 6 months of 2021, rising to over 220 million worldwide users. This has prompted lawmakers to work tirelessly towards bringing the ever-growing crypto market under the jurisdictions of the law.