Yet another video of old Gary Gensler's remarks starts surfacing online.
A recently discovered video clip from 2018 has resurfaced on social media featuring Gary Gensler, the current Chair of the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). Surprisingly, he can be heard categorically stating that several cryptocurrencies are not securities.
On June 12th, the video widely circulated across multiple Twitter accounts. It was reportedly taken during a Bloomberg event intended for institutional investors, hosted about two years before Gensler’s appointment as the SEC's chair.
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In the video, Gary Gensler can be heard asserting that:
Over 70% of the crypto market is Bitcoin, Ether, Litecoin, Bitcoin Cash. Why did I name those four? They’re not securities.
At that time, Gensler was an academic at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. His earlier statements contradict his recent regulatory maneuvers as the SEC Chair, which have witnessed a barrage of enforcement actions targeting the crypto industry.
As the SEC Chair, Gensler has implied that all cryptocurrencies, excluding Bitcoin (BTC), could be considered securities. According to various lawsuits, the SEC has categorized over 60 cryptocurrencies as securities, but none of the four cryptos Gensler referred to in the 2018 video are on that list.
The old video brings to light Gensler's differing opinion on Ether (ETH). US House Committee sought Gensler's viewpoint regarding the status of ETH as a security in April, but the man refrained from giving a definitive answer.
Several clips from Gensler's tenure at MIT have also been brought to the surface this year, where he expresses similar thoughts on crypto. For instance, in a 2019 video shared in April, Gensler speaks highly of Algorand (ALGO), describing it as "great technology." Now, ALGO is considered a security.
Another clip from 2018, also circulated in April, shows Gensler teaching a class at MIT. In this video, he suggests that the majority of the market is "non-securities."
However, there's a possibility that Gensler's days as SEC Chair could be counted. US Representative has put forward the proposal for a comprehensive revamp of the SEC, which could potentially lead to Gensler's termination.
