Gary Gensler Makes Remarks on Crypto Compliance – Community Reacts

Crypto community criticizes SEC chair Gary Gensler for his remarks on compliance, calling for clearer regulatory guidelines.

The cryptocurrency community has been actively engaging with recent comments made by Gary Gensler, the chair of the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). On December 22, Gensler took to a social media platform, presumably Twitter, to express concerns about widespread noncompliance within the crypto sector. Moreover, he suggested that such noncompliance erodes trust in the industry and leaves those affected by recent crypto bankruptcies with limited recourse, only able to seek remedies through legal channels.

Ripple CEO and Crypto Figures Respond

Brad Garlinghouse, CEO of Ripple, responded to Gensler’s statements, criticizing the SEC chair’s approach and labeling him a political liability. Garlinghouse accused Gensler of compromising the integrity of the SEC through his actions. Additionally, Dogecoin creator Billy Markus chimed in, criticizing Gensler for failing to establish clear regulatory guidelines and openly calling his effectiveness into question.

The crypto community utilized the Community Notes feature of the social media platform to highlight the lack of clarity in compliance standards set by the SEC with Gary Gensler as Chair. This feature, which enables users to fact-check posts, was used to underscore the SEC’s vague stance on compliance. The community noted that despite efforts by companies like Coinbase to seek regulatory clarity, the SEC has not provided concrete guidelines.

Compounding the controversy, the SEC, on the same day, acknowledged in a filing its regret over certain mistakes made during an enforcement action. Paul Grewal, Chief Legal Officer at Coinbase, highlighted the contradiction between the SEC’s expression of regret and Gensler’s critical stance towards the crypto industry. Lastly, he questioned the sincerity of the SEC’s regrets, given the ongoing challenges faced by the industry in seeking regulatory clarity.