Gary Gensler reaffirmed the SEC’s Bitcoin position and once again chastised the crypto industry for widespread non-compliance.
Bitcoin (BTC) is not a security, U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission chair Gary Gensler said on Thursday, Sept. 26, while speaking to Squawk Box hosts on CNBC. It’s not the first time Gensler and the SEC have displayed regulatory acceptance for crypto’s leading token. SEC filings have referred to the $1.2 trillion asset as a non-security commodity.
Under chair Gensler, the agency has approved around 10 spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds and embraced Bitcoin on American exchanges like the Nasdaq.
Ethereum (ETH) exchange-traded funds were also approved in a similar fashion, but the SEC has adopted a controversial approach to the second-largest cryptocurrency. The SEC has opened numerous investigations into Ethereum service providers like Consensys, Uniswap, and other crypto trading facilitators like Coinbase.
The SEC and Gensler have also refused to classify Ethereum as either a security or non-security while simultaneously enforcing federal rules on Ethereum ecosystem participants.
U.S. policymakers, particularly in the House of Representatives, have accused Gensler of spreading confusion within the digital asset industry and using invented terms like “crypto asset security” in major litigations.
Earlier this week, Gensler was slammed for stifling blockchain innovation and encouraging disarray in the crypto market during a Congressional hearing attended by all five SEC commissioners.
At the hearing, and during the CNBC interview, Gensler repeated rhetoric suggesting non-compliance and lax disclosures in the crypto space. He stated that rules for the industry exist, but participants have ignored policies and demanded special treatment.
"Look, not liking the rules is not the same as, there aren't rules," says @GaryGensler on crypto regulation. "I think there's a lot that have profited off of the public's interest in this field but profited without the proper disclosures." pic.twitter.com/DSk6rRm7XZ
— Squawk Box (@SquawkCNBC) September 26, 2024
His testimony and statements contradicted remarks from Robinhood Markets lead attorney Dan Gallagher. Speaking at a separate hearing last week, Gallagher claimed that the commission was largely non-responsive to Robinhood’s registration attempts.
Gallagher, a former SEC employee, said agency staff either delayed feedback or failed to respond altogether in some cases. Commissioner Hester Peirce alluded to similar occurrences at the regulator and echoed Gallagher’s view that Congress should step in to bridge the policy gap created by the SEC’s intentional inaction.