Will Gary Gensler Resign This Week Like Former SEC Chairs?

XRP’s attorney, James Murphy, also known on Twitter as MetaLawMan, stated that he believes after the winning of the presidency by Donald Trump this year, SEC Chair Gary Gensler will resign.

He cited a trend in history: when Trump won in 2016, Mary Jo White, then-SEC chair at the time, resigned, and upon Biden’s victory in 2020, Jay Clayton stepped down.

He has brought these facts to indicate that Gensler will do the same once the election of 2024 takes place.

XRP Lawyer Predicts SEC Chair Gensler Will Resign Soon

One of the lawyers at XRP’s employ declared that he believes US Securities and Exchange Commission Chair Gary Gensler will step down before President-elect Donald Trump’s presidency begins next year.

Financial services lawyer James Murphy, better known as MetaLawMan, tweeted that he believes SEC Chair Gary Gensler will step down very soon following the election of President-elect Donald Trump in 2024.

He cited a trend in behavior by the Commission from recent presidential transitions, noting that when Trump was first elected in 2016, SEC Chair Mary Jo White stepped down shortly after that. When Biden won the election in 2020, SEC Chair Jay Clayton did the same.

Murphy thus believes that this precedent will make Gensler quit after the result of the 2024 elections after Trump wins. Funny, he said, “Hey @GaryGensler, we’re waiting,” indicating that he was awaiting Gensler’s resignation.

Donald Trump’s victory ends Gary Gensler’s era as SEC Chairman. Gensler headed an audacious agenda that received accolades from a few but also generated massive resentment among business circles, cryptocurrency entrepreneurs, and farmers. Some high-profile initiatives he pursued on climate disclosure, cryptocurrency enforcement, and ESG will likely be rolled back or scrapped in favor of a new SEC chair that Trump will appoint.

Although Gensler’s term is approved through 2026, SEC chairs typically resign when a new administration comes into office, and he has yet to indicate plans to deviate from this norm. As Gensler said last month, “Traditionally, presidents get to decide who chairs the SEC, and that’s a good part of democracy.”.

An SEC spokesperson emphasized that during his leadership, the commission has been one of the most prolific in its 90-year history. “The reforms adopted over the last three-and-a-half years promote efficiency, competition, and investor protection in the United States capital markets,” the spokesperson said. “Its enforcement actions have held wrongdoers accountable and returned billions to harmed investors.”

Former SEC Official Predicts Gensler’s Resignation, Hints at Hester Peirce’s Appointment

Murphy is not the only one who is predicting Gensler leaving soon. During a recent AMA on social media platform X, former head of the SEC’s Office of Internet Enforcement, John Reed Stark, said that Gary Gensler will probably resign following Donald Trump’s presidential victory. According to him, Gensler would be doing what most of his predecessors have done: resigning with the entry of a new administration.

Stark speculated that “crypto-friendly” SEC Commissioner Hester Peirce, who has been very vocal in her criticism of the regulator’s approach, was likely to take up the mantle. He said the president would likely appoint an acting usually the longest-serving member of the party, in this case, would be Peirce.

Under his tenure, the SEC has charged lawsuits against some of the biggest names in crypto, including Coinbase, Uniswap Labs, and Binance. Stark believes that all is set to change with Trump back in the White House. “Does this mean that the SEC’s war on crypto is over? I would say absolutely yes,” said Stark, anticipating that regulatory actions levied against the crypto industry would take a steep fall in the future.